Introduction
Dominique Stephon "Nico" Collins (born March 19, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan.
High school career
Collins was a wide receiver at Clay-Chalkville High School in Clay, Alabama. As a junior, he caught 60 passes for 1,103 yards for 16 touchdowns. This was followed by a senior year with 43 passes for 865 yards and 9 touchdowns. In February 2017 Collins committed to play football at Michigan over Georgia and Alabama.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40 | Commit date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nico Collins WR |
Birmingham, Alabama | Clay-Chalkville High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 197 lb (89 kg) | 4.50 | Feb 1, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: | ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 120 247Sports: 138 ESPN: 150 | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
On October 12, 2017, Collins made his first collegiate reception on a 12 yard pass against Rutgers University. As a freshman, he appeared in two games and had three receptions for 27 yards. He had a breakout season in his sophomore year in 2018. He had four catches for a career-high 91 yards and two touchdowns against Ohio State. He ended the season as the Most Improved Offensive Player with 38 receptions for 632 yards and six touchdowns. On November 23, 2019, Collins had a career-best 165 receiving yards and three touchdowns against Indiana. Despite playing along Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black and Ronnie Bell, Collins was second on the team in receiving yards in 2019, with 729 yards from 37 receptions and had seven touchdowns.
Statistics
| Team | G | Receiving | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2017 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 9 | 0 |
| 2018 | 13 | 38 | 632 | 16.6 | 6 |
| 2019 | 12 | 37 | 729 | 19.7 | 7 |
| 2020 | Opted-out due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| Career | 27 | 78 | 1,388 | 17.8 | 13 |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4+1⁄8 in (1.93 m) |
215 lb (98 kg) |
34+1⁄8 in (0.87 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.45 s | 1.55 s | 2.63 s | 4.32 s | 6.79 s | 37.5 in (0.95 m) |
10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) |
14 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day | ||||||||||||
Collins was drafted 89th overall by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. On May 12, 2021, Collins officially signed with the Texans.
2021 season: rookie year
Heading into his first training camp in the NFL, Collins was listed as a starting wide receiver alongside veterans Brandin Cooks and Chris Conley. At the end of the NFL preseason, head coach David Culley named Collins a starting wide receiver, alongside Cooks and Conley, to begin the season.
Collins made his first career start and NFL debut in the Texans' Week 1 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.He recorded one reception for seven yards.Collins started in the Texans' Week 2 loss to the Cleveland Browns, where he recorded one reception for 32 yards before exiting early in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. Collins was placed on injured reserve on September 21, 2021. He was activated on October 16, 2021, and returned to start the Texans' Week 6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.In Week 14 against the Seattle Seahawks, Collins recorded five receptions for 69 yards and caught his first career touchdown pass during the Texans' Week 16 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Overall, Collins finished his rookie season appearing in 14 games (8 starts) and recorded 33 receptions for 446 yards and one touchdown while playing in just over half of the Texans' offensive snaps on the season.
2022 season
Collins entered the 2022 season as the Texans No. 2 receiver behind Brandin Cooks. He finished the season with 37 catches for 481 yards and two touchdowns through 10 games and seven starts. On December 23, 2022, Collins was placed on season–ending injured reserve with a foot injury.
2023 season
During Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, Collins finished with 146 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Texans lost 20–31. In a Week 4 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Collins set new single-game career highs with 7 receptions for 168 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. In Week 13 against the Denver Broncos, Collins would top his single-game career highs in yardage and receptions once again finishing with 9 receptions for 191 receiving yards while adding in a touchdown as the Texans would win 22-17.
NFL career statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||
| 2021 | HOU | 14 | 8 | 33 | 446 | 13.5 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | HOU | 10 | 7 | 37 | 481 | 13.0 | 58 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | HOU | 11 | 6 | 59 | 991 | 16.8 | 59 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 35 | 21 | 129 | 1918 | 14.9 | 59 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |