CARD: Panini Donruss 2021
ACQUIRED: Ebay, 2024

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

• Nico Collins played WR at Michigan from 2017-20.
• He opted out of his senior season due to COVID, so he finished with a modest 78 receptions for 1388 yards and 13 TDs over his college career.
• With strong connections to the Texans through their coaching staff, Nico was a 3rd round pick of the franchise in 2021.
• The team was going through… a lot at the time, not only at the quarterback position, but also in the coaching staff.
• He finished both his rookie and sophomore campaign with similarly middling results.
• In ’21 he started 8 games and had 33 receptions for 446 yards and a TD.
• In ’22 he started 7 games and had 37 receptions for 481 yards and 2 TDs.
• It’d be in 2023 that Nico had a breakout year, as he and rookie QB CJ Stroud paired together to be a dangerous combination.
• Collins finished the ’23 campaign with career highs in all categories, as well as more than doubled his production across the board.
• He finished 2023 with 80 receptions for 1297 yards, a 75 long, and 8 TDs.

NOTES:

The prices have been fluttering down on certified autographs recently, and with the emergence of Nico I wanted to get a few of his long at last into the collection since we just don’t get much love up here in Central Texas. I had originally chosen a Luminance card, but the seller couldn’t find it, so he offered to make it right by sending me the Donruss instead, which I begrudgingly accepted.