Alabama Football Arrives in New Orleans - Sugar Bowl Week

Alabama safety Landon Collins arrives in his hometown of New Orleans on Dec. 27 for the Sugar Bowl.

(Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Landon Collins isn't one to sugar coat things. He came to Alabama with goals and he's achieved.

So when asked if he could've imagined leaving after his junior year for a projected top-10 NFL draft pick, Collins kept it real.

"I imagined this," Collins said Friday. "It's always been my dream. That's about it."

The former 5-star recruit who famously picked Alabama over home-state (and family) favorite LSU was one of three Tide stars who declared for the NFL draft Friday. Being a top-10 pick would be "fantastic," he said, but landing a Round 1 selection is the plan.

Alabama's leading tackler was a unanimous All-American in his only full season as a starter. But it wasn't always easy for the former top recruit. Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart remembered the safety struggling in his first preseason camp back in 2012. Collins laughed when asked about that Friday.

"That's a freshman, right there," Collins said. "You're going to be lost. You don't know what's going on. You don't know the process of how everything goes. And just take it and run with it. Never forget how you got there. Always remember your work ethic and all the work you put into becoming the best player that you became in high school and just follow that all the way 'til you get here.

"And continue doing that. Don't let the coaches get on you, put you down, saying that you're not that collegiate player no more."

And it would seem obvious to assume the New Orleans native grew up a Saints fan, but Collins was a renegade. He was a Peyton Manning supporter along with a team without geographical ties to his family.

"But my favorite team was the Redskins because I grew up a Clinton Portis and Shawn Taylor fan, so it's always been the Redskins," he said.

The Washington franchise has the fifth pick in the draft.

Collins said he's three semesters short of graduation, which remains a goal of his he's looking into taking online classes this spring as he prepares for the draft.