Michigan State Football: Elijah Collins reveals reason behind 2020 struggles
From the jump, Elijah Collins looked a step slower with worse vision and strength as a sophomore as opposed to his freshman campaign. He looked like a different player, and not for the better.
It was clear something was up with Collins but the sophomore slump was widely attributed to him struggling to adjust to the new coaching staff after two years in Mark Dantonio’s system. Maybe the trust just wasn’t there yet.
I mean, why else would he go from nearly 1,000 yards on 4.5 yards per carry as a redshirt freshman to just 90 yards on 41 attempts as a sophomore?
It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s common for players to see drop-offs in production going from one coaching staff to another. Maybe Collins needed a change of scenery or the trust of the new staff. Either way, something was off.
Speculation ran rampant throughout the season as he looked like a shell of his former self, but he revealed on Tuesday the reason for his sophomore slump: he was hit hard by COVID-19.
MSU RB Elijah Collins said he had COVID “and it took a deep effect.” Says he lost weight and had symptoms that lasted a few weeks.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) April 20, 2021
This was known behind the scenes, but this just goes to show that sometimes players are struggling for reasons that are out of their control. Never be too quick to judge.
Last season was a massive exception for any player who struggled. Little did we know that Collins had one of the worst cases of COVID-19 on the entire team and he just looked a step slower all season because he wasn’t 100 percent.
It makes you wonder which other players experienced similar effects.
Locked in as RB2 for Michigan State football in 2021?
How do we know for certain that the toll of COVID-19 was the reason Collins struggled in 2020? We don’t know if that’s the only factor, but when you couple that with trying to adjust to a new staff and playbook, things can get dicey.
Plus, there’s this quote from running backs coach William Peagler that seems to indicate Collins looks like his old self this spring:
MSU RB coach William Peagler says Elijah Collins is "a different person this spring."
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) April 20, 2021
Peagler went on to say that Collins and Donovan Eaglin are the most improved backs this spring and Mel Tucker stated a few days ago that the junior running back’s best football is still ahead of him.
That’s high praise for a back coming off a nightmare season with just 90 yards and a 2.2 yards per carry average.
And after adding Kenneth Walker III and Harold Joiner via the transfer portal this offseason, it seemed like the coaching staff was already planning for replacements in the backfield. But Collins has remained and is working his butt off. He sounds like he’s going to be the No. 2 running back this season and while that’s not as good as his old RB1 job, he and Walker III will make a devastating one-two punch.
Add in Joiner as more of an H-back and Jordon Simmons and you have one of the best backfields in the Big Ten.
Collins is back, folks.
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