La’el Collins has worked exclusively at tackle since 2017. The Cowboys’ position change at the time stuck, with the former first-round guard prospect quickly establishing himself as a right tackle starter. Eight years after he last played guard in a game, the former Dallas and Cincinnati starter’s last shot with Buffalo appears to hinge on a move back.
The Bills are now viewing Collins as a guard-only option, according to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia (subscription required). This has been an interesting transition for the veteran blocker, as the Bills had hoped he would become a swing backup. But Collins has struggled, putting his roster spot in jeopardy.
A pre-camp assessment of Collins’ likelihood for the 53-man roster pointed to a bubble scenario forming, but the Bills guaranteed the 86-game starter $1.5MM upon signing him in April. Collins had visited late last season but did not sign. The Bengals cut Collins from their reserve/PUP list last September, leading to a missed season. Collins had sustained ACL and MCL tears in Week 16 of the 2022 campaign, and the Bengals were generally unhappy with their three-year, $21MM free agency investment in the veteran tackle.
Cincinnati had shut the door on Collins potentially moving to guard to accommodate Orlando Brown Jr.‘s arrival last year, but it appears the Bills view him differently. Collins started 14 games at guard from 2015-16, but a foot injury ended his run as an inside presence. Dallas shifted the LSU product to tackle before the 2017 season and used him as its RT starter in four of the next five seasons. This transition scored Collins two Cowboys extensions. Now 31, he faces a challenge to reacclimate to guard.
Collins and Will Clapp have struggled during the run-up to cutdown day, Buscaglia adds, noting the Bills subbed out the veterans for younger players while the second-team offense was in the game against the Steelers. Clapp started 11 Chargers games last season, filling in for Corey Linsley after the latter’s move to the NFI list, and has made 21 career starts. Clapp, 28, and Collins represent the only veteran backup options for Buffalo up front, but the team is trying UDFA Richard Gouraige at both tackle and guard.
Gouraige, a 2023 signee, spent last season on Buffalo’s practice squad. The team has 2023 swing tackle Ryan Van Demark and rookie fifth-rounder Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, an All-American center at Georgia, locked into roster spots. Ditto Alec Anderson, a 2022 UDFA, Buscaglia adds. Anderson has yet to play a regular-season snap, but it appears the Bills trust him more than the newly acquired vets.
Collins and Clapp would provide experience, and while there might be room on the Bills’ roster for one of the two, the team may not want to carry both. Clapp signed a one-year, $1.29MM deal with $288K guaranteed.
Elsewhere on the Bills’ roster, it does not look like Kaiir Elam is expected to unseat Christian Benford at cornerback. The latter, a former sixth-round pick who quickly usurped the ex-first-rounder back in 2022, has a “vise grip” on the team’s boundary CB job opposite Rasul Douglas, the Buffalo News’ Mark Gaughan writes.
Elam has only started eight games since being the No. 23 overall pick in 2022. Benford, conversely, has made 19 starts — including 14 last season. Elam tore an ankle ligament before last season and landed on IR after attempting to play through the malady. While Gaughan indicates Elam has not accounted himself poorly, Benford has been better and appears in no danger of losing his starting job. Pro Football Focus ranked Benford as last year’s eighth-best corner.
The Bills benched Elam in November 2022 and have not relied on him as a regular starter since. Even with Tre’Davious White now in Los Angeles, Elam appears on track to enter the season as a backup.
This is not a knock on Elam, he’s been excellent throughout camp. Benford is just really good. Sometimes those sixth rounders pan out.
Benford is REALLY good.
Im hoping Elam puts it together this year too.
With Jamarcus Ingram and Douglas the potential is there for a really solid outside CB group.
Plus Taron and Daquan for the slot.
They have alot of quality DBs.
Its an odd move this late.
Im pessimistic about Collins chances. Especially since Mcd prizes flexibility. There are too many other guards with center flexibility on the roster.
Unless he becomes an all pro guard player in the next 10 days or so – his roster spot will go to a rookie.
It does leave question about another depth tackle though. Is Tylan Grable T4?
That was one catastrophic knee injury. With how many players bounce back from ACL tears-Adrian Peterson seems to have inspired the trend-we’ve forgotten a bit how people used to consider that a career ending injury; at least, the end of any elite level quality. It can still do that to a player, though, and Collins is an unfortunate example of how it can really rock a player’s career.
Still, with the way things are now, players recover better than they used to-maybe, with some luck, Collins can secure a spot going forward, even if it’s not with Buffalo. Collins’ successful career as a right tackle can make some forget that he originally came into the league as a guard, and a decently regarded guard at that. Unfortunately for him, the Bills seem stacked at guard, so if Collins cannot play tackle, it will really limit his backup value on his current team.