A decision to opt out and take a cash advance from his agent cost Nico Collins the opportunity to play at Michigan in 2020.
The Wolverines’ star receiver opted out of the abbreviated season last fall, after the Big Ten Conference announced plans to scrap fall sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Collins quickly made the decision, privately, to begin preparing for the NFL draft and signed with Rosenhaus Sports, led by high-profile agent Drew Rosenhaus.
“Opting out, that gave me time to focus on the things I needed to improve my game,” Collins told reporters on Wednesday, ahead of a scheduled pro-day event Friday in Ann Arbor. “I really self-evaluated my way of playing from last year. Just studying the things that I felt I needed to improve on. So, that’s really what I worked on while opting out. That gave me a couple months to really focus on the things I really needed to improve on, and that’s what I did.”
In an October interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Collins called the move to opt out of the abbreviated 2020 season a “business decision,” citing “too many knowns” for his reason for hanging it up.
But after the Big Ten reversed course and set a nine-game schedule for each time beginning in late-October, Collins said he was interested in returning.
More: Michigan’s Ambry Thomas confident in NFL ability: ‘I’m a top-5 cornerback’
Fellow teammate and offensive tackle Jalen Mayfield did — after announcing in August plans to declare for the NFL draft.
However, Collins’ situation was a bit different he says, having accepted a marketing advance from Rosenhaus Sports, effectively zapping his collegiate eligibility. The NCAA forbids any student-athlete from accepting money from agents and professional teams.
“Once they said they was going to have a season again, there was no way for me to come back,” Collins said. “The NCAA wasn’t going to allow me for what I accepted. I was too far down the line. But yeah, thoughts of me coming back — I wanted to come back, for sure. Because I came back for my senior year. I wanted to come back. So, yeah, I planned on coming back. There was just no way for me to come back.”
In September, Michigan’s wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis, took to social media to voice his frustration over the penalties players faced for declaring for the NFL draft and accepting money from agents.
Related: Despite ‘tough’ 2020, Michigan RB Chris Evans believes he has a lot to offer NFL teams
On Twitter, Gattis wrote: “Players who opted out to prepare for the NFL should all be reinstated without penalty, regardless of what they accepted. It’s not a competitive advantage.” Gattis continued by saying agents who offered money, like cash advances, “show they don’t have a post-NFL plan for you!”
Collins said he spent the fall losing weight — he’s down to 217 pounds, he says — and working on his route running. The Birmingham, Ala., native accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl in January and participated in a week’s worth of practices and interviews with NFL coaches and scouts, his first live football in over a year.
“That week, I knew it was time for me to go out there and showcase to everybody what I had been doing,” Collins said. “Because I opted out, I knew that was my only opportunity to do everything.”
In three seasons at Michigan, Collins caught 78 passes for 1,388 yards and 22 touchdowns, with most of his production in 2018 and 2019. He was a two-time all-Big Ten honoree and figured to be the Wolverines’ No. 1 option in 2020.
As it stands currently, Collins is a projected second or third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, populated by another deep (and talented) receiver class. He’s a big, physical receiver and praised for having good hands and large catch radius — all good traits to have at the next level.
“(There’s) a lot of great receivers coming out of this draft class,” Collins said. “I feel like we all have different assets when it comes to football, when it comes to the game. You have some that’s short, quick; you have some that play big and physical. I feel like my game, I’m a big, physical receiver. I like to play big.”
Read more on Michigan football:
Ben Mason working on pass-catching ability to help NFL draft stock
Kwity Paye rises in Mel Kiper’s latest NFL mock draft
For Michigan, keeping its offense on the field is key in 2021
