Zaven Collins: LB · Tulsa · #23.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Zaven Collins
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Three seasons in the Tulsa linebacker corps to date. All-America (Consensus) in 2020 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 15 tackles and 1 INT against Tulane — Week 12, 2020.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
54 tackles. 2 passes defended. 4 interceptions. 11.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | L 7-16@ No. 11 Oklahoma State | 6 | 6 | 4.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 | 3 sacks |
| Wk 5 | W 34-26@ No. 11 UCF | 10 | 7 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 3.5 TFL |
| Wk 8 | W 42-13@ South Florida | 6 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 34-30vs East Carolina | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 28-24vs No. 19 SMU | 6 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 30-24vs Tulane | 15 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Wk 14 | W 19-6@ Navy | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 16 | L 24-27@ No. 6 Cincinnati | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 36 | 11.5 | 4.0 | 4 | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
54tackles this seasonTFL rate
21%12 TFLSack rate
7%4 sacksPD rate
4%2 pass breakups54 tackles · 11.5 for loss · 4 sacks · 4 interceptions.
3 seasons under Philip Montgomery — 13-20 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2020 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 9.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 5.4 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-72g | 8.0 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 6.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Philip Montgomery
Pass share
46.6%
305 pass / 350 run
Plays / game
81.9
8 games
Team sack rate
6.3%
335 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2020
First team on every major selector list.
Selector Grid · 2020
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
How it ended
Three seasons at Tulsa, 236 tackles, the Chuck Bednarik Award (2020) — drafted at #16 overall by the Arizona Cardinals.
A stat line in 32 games over three seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2020)
Named to 9 first-team selectors
National awards
Bednarik, Lombardi, Nagurski
2020 season
ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM
All-AAC 1st team (2020)
Weekly recognition
4 weekly honors (2020)
AAC Defensive Player of the Week — a 4+ season has tracked to All-Conference ~83% of the time
Coaching lineage · 2018–2020
1 coachPlayed every college season under Philip Montgomery.
Next stop · NFL
Arizona CardinalsEntering 6th NFL season
Arizona CardinalsEntering 6th NFL season
