Let’s rewind things a little bit and think back to the 2016 NFL Draft when the Dallas Cowboys selected Defensive Tackle Maliek Collins out of Nebraska with the 67th overall pick in the third-round. Defensive Coordinator Rod Marinelli was noticeably excited in the Cowboys draft room, evidenced by his fist bumps with those who were in close proximity. Now, imagine that excitement times 10 after drafting Trysten Hill with the 58th overall pick in the second-round of this year’s draft.
The Dallas Cowboys were clearly excited about Maliek Collins a few years ago, but he hasn’t really maintained the kind of consistency they wanted based on his rookie season. As a rookie, Collins had a promising season accumulating 23 combined tackles, five quarterback sacks, and one forced fumble. By any standards, those were encouraging numbers for a rookie DT. Unfortunately, Collins has failed to meet those landmarks his next two years the league.
Collins is now entering the final year of his rookie contract, which is looking more and more as if it will be his last with the Cowboys. He’s been a pretty solid contributor along the DL, but he never really lived up to the expectations many of us had for him. Hopefully, Trysten Hill is a different story.
Despite outside opinion, Trysten Hill was a player the Dallas Cowboys were targeting all long with their first selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s rare for a player his size (6’3″, 308) to possess the kind of power and athletic ability he does. He is a physical freak in every sense of the word, which is just one of the reasons why he was just too hard to pass up, despite their need for safety help.
I don’t know about all of you, but Trysten Hill was the player I was hoping the Cowboys would draft as well. I believe he has a chance to be a real stud in the NFL and I think that could start as early as his rookie season. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that he will best Maliek Collins’ stats for his rookie season back in 2016, which will hopefully only be a glimpse of bigger things to come.
Trysten Hill definitely has his work cut out for him though to live up to those expectations. Unlike Maliek Collins, who is pretty much made a starter from day 1, Hill is looking like a backup/rotational DT for the Cowboys his rookie season. He has Collins ahead of him as the projected starter at the 3-tech and Antwaun Woods ahead of him as the starting 1-tech. This could make it a little more difficult as far as stats are concerned.
Fortunately though, DC Rod Marinelli likes a heavy rotation along his DL. If Trysten Hill is as talented as the Cowboys and myself believe, he should have no problem besting Maliek Collins’rookie season stats. But, it’s up to him as to how impactful he will be his first year in the NFL.
