Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli was made a happy man in the third round of the draft last weekend by his team’s selection of Maliek Collins, the defensive tackle and former Missouri State Champion wrestler out of Nebraska.
In Collins, Marinelli sees a perfect fit for this defense, more or less.
"I like him. He fits," Marinelli told 105.3-FM The Fan, during their draft coverage Friday, via the Dallas Morning News. "Go back when Bo Pelini was [at Nebraska]. He was unbelievable, and he was playing our system. I had their line coach in here before, and they're doing everything we do.
“His movement and patterns, he was rated higher this year. And they changed systems, he was standing up as a linebacker at times, they blitzed him as a linebacker, everybody does it differently. No big deal. I try to evaluate all that.
"Big Cat [Leon Lett] went up there and worked him out and he had a terrific workout, things that we do. That really sold it to me. He's a hard-nosed guy. It was really good."
The Cowboys would go on to get Marinelli some much-needed edge rush help in the fourth round with the selection of Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper.
