Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Zaven Collins hasn’t had quite the season many Cardinals fans hoped for after signing an extension in 2024.
The Cardinals’ edge rusher was a three-year starter and has been moved to a role player in Arizona’s front four.
However, defensive lineman Calais Campbell believes big things are ahead for the young outside linebacker.
Can Zaven Collins Elevate His Game?
The Cardinals drafted Collins with the 16th-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Ironically, he was drafted in the same spot as rookie defensive tackle Walter Nolen III.
Collins played college ball at Tulsa and made an immediate impact in Arizona. The outside linebacker played in all 17 games and made six starts in his rookie season.
Collins collected 25 tackles, a tackle for loss, and three passes defended in 2021. Then, the Cardinals’ edge rusher earned the starting role for the next three years.
The young outside linebacker broke out with 100 tackles, 11 TFLs, and six passes defended in 2022. Collins also had the first interception and forced fumble of his career, had two sacks, and four quarterback hits.
In 2024, Collins set a career-high with five sacks, and the Cardinals signed him to a two-year, $14 million extension.
However, through eight games in 2025, Collins has started in just one game. The Cardinals’ outside linebacker has 18 total tackles, four TFLs, and a sack, but he has a career-high eight quarterback hits.
After the Cardinals win against the Dallas Cowboys, Campbell explained how Collins may not be showing up in the stat sheet, but he’s making plays for his teammates.
“I told him today, ‘Man, you like giving away sacks. I appreciate it. Thank you.’ His highlights on the missed sacks are incredible,” Campbell said. “Zaven is a great talent, and he’s such a smart football player who makes everyone around him better.
“I would like for him to start making those plays because then he’ll start getting the recognition he deserves. Because he is an elite player, and he was in his bag this week.”
Collins’ stat sheet shows just one total tackle on Monday night, but Campbell said that doesn’t tell the whole story.
“I mean, this was the best I’ve seen him, and he really should have like five or six sacks this season. But, they’ll come. Just keep sawing wood, just keep getting there, and they’ll come,” Campbell said. “It’s a team effort. When you miss them, you want someone else to be able to be there to pick them up. This week we did that. You’re not going to get them all. Quarterbacks are really good in this league.
“But, Zaven, man, big game. He deserves a lot of credit. I don’t know how much he showed up in the stat sheet, but from looking at the tape, he really popped.”
That impact behind the stats backs up Campbell’s assessment. Collins’ performance against the Cowboys was his second-best game of the year, according to PFSN’s EDGE Impact.
It was also the second-best edge rusher performance of the night for Arizona, behind only Josh Sweat, who had two sacks in the game.
The outside linebacker hasn’t had the same reps as he had in the last three years, but he’s begun to get back to the same level of performance during those seasons.
The Cardinals are getting healthy, and their front four is getting crowded, but if Collins continues this level of play, he’s going to stay on the field.
The veteran, Campbell, believes that eventually Collins will get the statistics to back up the production he has displayed on the field this season so far.