Dawgs By Nature
Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, let’s take a look at how 2025 free-agent signing Maliek Collins has improved the Browns’ top-ranked defense – not only as a quarterback disruptor, but also as a mentor to younger teammates who would do well to follow his example..
You know how it is when you have to wait a while to get what you really want, and when you do get it, it’s worth so much more?
Welcome to Maliek Collins’ world.
The 30-year-old defensive lineman, selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round of the 2016 draft, has quite a few stops in his career – Dallas through 2019, the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, the Houston Texans from 2021-2023, the San Francisco 49ers in 2024, and finally, the Cleveland Browns in 2025 after Collins signed a two-year, $20 million contract with $13 million guaranteed.
Safe to say at this point, there will be no issues keeping Collins around for a second season given the way the first one is going. Through the first five games of the season, Collins has four sacks, 17 total pressures, six tackles, three tackles for loss, and nine stops. The 6’2, 310-pound Collins may be built like an undersized nose tackle, but he can get it done all over the place – in 2025, he’s lined up 71% of the time as a three-tech tackle, and the rest of the time as an edge defender or over the tackles.
Of course, Collins came into a defensive line already defined by Myles Garrett, and the addition of fifth overall pick Mason Graham certainly helped. But it’s Collins who has been the unexpected star. Among players categorized as interior defensive linemen, only Jeffery Simmons of the Tennessee Titans, Zach Allen of the Denver Broncos, and Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs have more quarterback disruptions. Those guys are among the NFL’s top inside wrecking balls, so that’s serious company.
In Collins’ case, he had done his homework before he signed with the Browns and started work with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. He knew that he wanted to be a part of a front that was constantly attacking, so that was the right fit, and Collins has also been tasked to help Graham get with a more aggressive front as opposed to the read-and-react he was asked to do frequently at Michigan.
“I’ve never played in any other system, so I only know one way of playing,” Collins said in August of his relationship with the rookie. “So I think for him, it’s just to remove the thought of having to play step with blocks and things like that, and just think about getting off the ball.
“Just keep things simple. Getting off the ball is the first thing. Playing with pad level, bringing hands on their palms, things like...
