Following Patrick Chung's footsteps in New England's Prodigal Son career path, Collins came crawling back to the Patriots' fold on a bargain-basement contract that contains just $250,000 in guarantees. One of only three versatile defenders league-wide aligning as interior linemen, edge defenders and inside linebacker on at least 15 percent of their snaps (teammate Dont'a Hightower and Detroit rookie Jahlani Tavai are the others, per Next Gen Stats), Collins finds himself spearheading a dominant, veteran-laden Patriots defense that has a chance to become the first since the 1934 Lions to open the season without allowing an offensive touchdown in four straight games. Pro Football Focus' top-graded linebacker, Collins is the only NFL player to generate two sacks and two interceptions this September. As if those feats aren't impressive enough, he also owns the league's highest stop rate (13.3), an advanced metric that tracks how many times a tackle constitutes a failed play for the offense. If Barrett is the surprise favorite for NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors, Collins is the AFC's equivalent.