Slimmer, still Irish-dancing Alex Collins jigs into Seahawks' plans at running back

Aug. 29—Alex Collins was sidestepping Los Angeles Chargers, embarrassing them into tackling air instead of him.

As he was juking linebackers after catches, defensive linemen in the hole during runs, scoring a touchdown while averaging 7 yards per touch through the first half of the preseason finale, the renewed running back could hear his Seahawks teammates yelling from the sideline.

"Sweet feet!" they kept howling at Collins. "Sweet feet!"

"Hey!" Collins finally replied to them from the field during Seattle's 27-0 rout of the Chargers. "Come do some Irish dancing with me. We can do it all together."

The skill that Collins, who turned 27 on Thursday, first got while taking the daughter of his high school coach to Irish dance class in his native Florida about 10 years ago is reviving his NFL career.

Being too heavy sent him out of Seattle just one year after the Seahawks drafted him in the fifth round. Injuries and off-the-field trouble sent him of Baltimore following two seasons with the Ravens, the last in 2018. He was out of football in 2019.

Now, two weeks before the 2021 opener, a remade Collins looks like the Seahawks' second-best running back behind Chris Carson.

What's changed for Collins, besides his body losing 10 pounds since his first Seattle go-round five years ago?

His mind.

Collins said as a rookie in 2016 and former college star with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for Arkansas in the mighty Southeastern Conference he was focused on himself and gaining yards, scoring touchdowns, making money.

"Over the years, it's more than that now," he said late Saturday night. "It's about being the best I can be, and taking advantage of every opportunity.

"So just a different mindset, I would say, being here now after all the years."

Turns out as Collins got smaller, he grew up.

Last November, with number-two back Rashaad Penny in his year-long rehabilitation from reconstructive knee surgery in Dec. 2019 plus other injuries at running back, the Seahawks signed Collins back into the league onto their practice squad. He got promoted to play in three games, and scored two touchdowns.

This summer he reported to training camp feeling what he says is the best of his football life. He's found what he and Seahawks coaches feel is his optimum weight, 210 pounds. He's noticeably leaner.

Those dance moves now have more speed.

"I definitely slimmed down since the first time I was here," Collins said.

"I just really looked at my game. I compared myself from my college to my rookie year here. I was still making plays. I was still making tackles. But I just felt like the explosiveness, like finishing runs, wasn't there.

"I just took it upon myself to add to my game. And losing the weight allowed me to be a lot quicker, in and out of my cuts, getting to the holes faster. The speed of the game changed, so I had to adjust to that."

Saturday night at Lumen Field he caught a swing pass from Geno Smith in the first quarter and juked a Chargers defender in the open field. That created a 13-yard gain and first and goal. Two plays later, he showed the patience of a veteran. He waited for left guard Damien Lewis to push his guy left and way out of the whole toward nearby Elliott Bay. Then Collins cut nimbly to his right and bulled across the goal line for a 5-yard touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Collins caught a quick swing pass to the left sideline. Three unblocked Chargers were directly in front of him, about to drop him for lost yardage. He sidestepped one. He out-raced the other two toward the center of the field. He out-ran more pursuing Chargers to the opposite sideline to gain 14 yards out of nothing, on a third and 26. That made Jason Myers' field goal a 30-yard chip shot instead of 45 yards or more. Seattle took a 17-0 lead.

Collins finished with 89 total yards on 17 touches (10 carries for a game-high 37 yards, a game-high seven catches and 52 yards).

"I thought he looked explosive," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "The great feet that he has. Whatever that dance thing that he does, he's got some unbelievable moves. His feet are remarkable.

"You see, too, that he's an experienced player. When he gets in those situations, he finds his way to navigate to the positive. He's been doing it his whole life."

Well, except for 2019.

Lessons learned

Collins was too big and too unproductive his rookie year of 2016. Seattle cut him after just 11 games played for the team.

He lost 26 pounds, down to 194, and romped with the Baltimore Ravens in 2017. He rushed for 973 yards and six touchdowns that season. The following year he ran for seven more scores for Baltimore.

After 10 starts during the 2018 season the Ravens put Collins on injured reserve, in December of that year. Baltimore released Collins in March 2019. That was hours after Baltimore County Police said a passerby spotted Collins asleep in the driver seat of his Chevrolet Corvette. The car had crashed into a tree about a mile from the Ravens' team headquarters.

Police reported Collins told them he fell asleep waiting for a tow truck to arrive. Police reported officers noticed a marijuana smell inside Collins' car. A search found a jar containing approximately 5 ounces of marijuana, against Maryland law. Police also found a hand gun hidden in the car. Collins was arrested.

It was the opposite of the happy-go-lucky rookie with the Seahawks years earlier who posted videos online of his Irish-dancing hobby.

He didn't play in the NFL from that arrest until Carroll and the Seahawks signed him back last fall. He recovered from a broken leg in 2019. Then the league suspended him for three games stemming from the arrest the year before.

Why did Carroll give Collins another chance?

"He was a highly, highly productive player in college," Carroll said. "I don't mind telling you that there's only one other guy that had three thousand-yard seasons in the SEC. Herschel Walker was the other guy.

"I love giving him that credit, because that's an amazing accomplishment."

Releasing fifth-round draft choices before they begin their second season is unusual, but that's how quickly Collins fell out of favor with Carroll's staff in 2016 and '17.

Humbled and matured, he's very much in favor with the Seahawks now. Collins is pushing Penny for the number-two job at running back behind Carson entering this 2021 season. It begins in two weeks, with Seattle at Indianapolis on Sept. 12.

"Yes, he has looked different. His body sculpture is different," Carroll said. "The way he's conditioned and shaped himself is much different than he was.

"He was trying to be big (as a rookie five years ago). He thought he needed to be big to be in the league — at least that's what it looked like.

"He's turned it around."

Where he fits

Collins is also making a bid for Travis Homer's and DeeJay Dallas' roles as third-down backs. While the team's second-leading rusher this month, Collins finished the preseason with 10 catches to lead the Seahawks. He had seven receptions Saturday night.

First-time play caller Shane Waldron's new offense is poised to feature running backs as wide receivers more than in any of Carroll's 12 years with three offensive coordinators in Seattle. Expect to see Seahawks backs split out wide this season on the line as "X" wide receivers and in the slot, at times.

"I think it is a huge part. That's something that I feel is big, being able to catch the ball out of the backfield and being more dynamic," Collins said. "That separates us as running backs, because I feel like in the passing game the running-back position is slept on. We can have a big impact. Being that they use us in that aspect, I definitely feel like it gives us a more dynamic feel, and allows us to make a lot more plays."

Collins was in Darrell Bevell's offense as a Seahawks rookie five years ago, trying to be a Marshawn Lynch-style power back. The night the Seahawks drafted him, the area scout who pitched him from Arkansas to Carroll, Aaron Hineline, said: "This kid, we talk about how we characterize our run game, being big, physical, runners that run violent, he fits all those. He fits the (Seahawks') profile, definitely."

Now his sleeker game fits Waldron's quicker Seahawks offense.

Homer is on the team because of his pass blocking and ruggedness. Dallas, who didn't play Saturday after getting hurt in practice Thursday, is a former University of Miami wide receiver. Collins right now is both for Seattle: a decisive, yet patient runner and a receiver who makes guys miss, badly, in the open field.

"A huge night," Carroll said of Collins Saturday. "It's hugely important to be available. The more things you can do, the better it is for us when we put a guy in the game. If a guy can only block, or he can only run, or he can only catch, then you get taken advantage of."

The competition

The Seahawks have to trim the 80-man roster to 53 by 1 p.m. Tuesday, the NFL deadline to set the initial regular-season roster.

Seattle kept only four running backs entering last season, not counting part-time fullback and special-teams captain Nick Bellore.

Collins is forcing the coaches think about keeping five running backs.

Collins has out-performed Penny not just in the preseason games but all training camp. Penny missed a chunk of it injured, yet again. He was out from Dec. 2019 until Dec. 2020 following his knee reconstruction. He is entering the final year of his contract he signed as rookie first-round pick in 2018.

Dallas shined with Collins this month. Dallas' 43-yard touchdown catch and run at Las Vegas in the preseason opener showed his value in this offense.

Dallas got hurt Thursday in practice. Asked if Dallas will be healthy for the opener, Carroll said: "We'll have to wait and see. We'll talk about that. I don't know right now."

But the coach made it sound as if Dallas will be on the team.

"He had a little something that was just nagging him a little bit. He was just dying to play (Saturday night)," Carroll said. "I told him three different times, 'No, you don't get to play.' He was dying to get out there.

"But, he's had a pretty good camp now. He's had a very clear statement that he's made that he belongs."

Carroll loves Homer's blocking and toughness. The sixth-round pick in 2019 missed from May until last week with a calf injury.

The fact that Collins was still in a preseason finale in the fourth quarter Saturday night made one wonder: could the Seahawks have been showcasing Collins for a possible trade this week to other teams that need running backs?

Such as...the Ravens?

Baltimore lost J.K. Dobbins to what that team reportedly fears is a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the Ravens' final preseason game this past weekend.

While Collins' trade value may relatively high right now, it's risky for the Seahawks to deal away any productive running back given their — and the league's — trend of injuries at the position in recent years.

Could the Seahawks keep five running backs: Carson, Collins, Dallas, Homer and (stick with) Penny?

Collins has made that a possibility.

"It felt great getting out there, running around with my teammates, having fun, executing, and coming out with the win," Collins said Saturday.

"That's what it's all about."