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Comparing 2021 Florida Recruits to Former Gators: S Corey Collier Jr.

What past Gators do Florida's recruits resemble?

Graham Marsh

Is it possible to scheme against a player that does everything? 

When Reggie Nelson suited up in orange and blue every Saturday in the fall from 2005-2006, it didn't seem so. The Melbourne, Florida, native was nicknamed "The Eraser" thank to his knack for ending an offense's hopes and dreams. 

And now, it seems that Florida could have somebody similar. Corey Collier, out of Miami Palmetto, plays in such a way that looks like the newly-retired, 11-year NFL veteran. 

In stature, Nelson was shorter and more stout, standing at 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds during his time at UF although the NFL did list him at 6-1 in his career. Collier is a leaner, longer build, at 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds. Collier will certainly add weight when gets to Gainesville and shrink that gap in weight, and his extra length could only help him make more plays. 

Collier's ball skills resemble Nelson's in terms of an instinct for locating the ball. He grabs passes out of the air more like a corner than a safety. His coverage position looks like a corner used to being put on an island with a wide receiver. But Collier never stays on an island, he is a world traveler. Anywhere on the field where the ball is, he'll be there shortly. 

Typically, coverage skills like that also mean a defensive back that prefers not to do any tackling dirty work. But Collier is not the type to give a light shove out of bounds or tackle by a shoe string. 

Despite his thinner frame, he throws his weight around like a more physical safety when it's time to hit. He often drives people bigger than him backwards, a rare skills that Nelson also possessed. 

This combination of physicality and ball skills obviously makes for a talented safety, but it is the unteachable play-making skills that set guys like Nelson and Collier apart from the rest. 

Collier, like Nelson, often will fly down from 15 yards back and meet a ball-carrier near the line of scrimmage. Then he will flip his hips the next play and locate a deep ball out of the air and give the ball back to the offense.

With a coaching staff that prides itself on developing talent over time, Collier can do things that simply can't be coached.  To have that type of versatility and play-making, it takes a special type of athlete. It takes a high football IQ and fearlessness all packaged into one brain. 

It takes an eraser. 

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Graham Marsh
GRAHAM MARSH

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