New York Giants: Landon Collins becoming a proven leader

New York Giants safety Landon Collins becoming an outspoken leader could be a rare bright spot in a lost 2017 regular season.

The New York Giants desperately need some tough love this holiday season. Big Blue is more wrecked than a wrecking crew in the final days of 2017, a franchise without a recognizable front office or a head coach, and one without leaders inside the locker room considering we don’t know what’s in store for quarterback Eli Manning past Dec. 31.

Even if Manning remains with the Giants for another season, which he should for multiple reasons, the club will need additional boosts of vocal leadership from proven commodities to erase all that went wrong beginning last August. That reality makes safety Landon Collins speaking out about teammates allegedly not fully dedicated to the cause, particularly cornerback Eli Apple, a necessary evil.

Those of us not on the New York roster cannot say, with any certainty, what went down between Collins, Apple and others within the squad. We know Collins told reporters about supposed conversations between the two players, discussions Apple later denied. Then, Collins openly bashed Apple during an appearance on ESPN Radio on Tuesday. Per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post:

"“There’s one corner that has to establish [himself] and needs to grow, and we all know who that is,” Collins said. “That would be the only person I would change out of our secondary group. Besides the other two guys — DRC and Jackrabbit — I love those two guys. They play hard. They love what they do. But, that first pick … he’s a cancer.”"

Professional athletes and coaches often use cliches as ways to avoid answering difficult questions. “Cancer” is not a word taken likely as it pertains to the presence of any one person in a locker room, on a sideline or in a huddle. That, to be direct, is a description of somebody who is a lost cause and needs to be extracted, like a tumor, for the betterment of the overall body.

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This is not to say Collins played well throughout the majority of the past 15 weeks. He, like so many within the team, disappointed far too often, and he’ll have his own questions to answer when confronted by a new head coach and new defensive coordinator, whoever those individuals will be down the road.

Apple, however, is a different matter. As Dan Duggan of NJ.com wrote late last week, “family strife” could be affecting an emotional 22-year-old on and off the football field. Whether or not that is the case, in any way, can only honestly be confirmed or denied by Apple, but such stories won’t help his cause among teammates doubting his toughness and ability to cope and play in a physically and psychologically grueling sport.

Maybe it’s not fair personal struggles can sink a promising prospect two years into his career. That, as the old adage teaches, is life in the NFL. Players will offer support for peers, but only if they feel putting in the work will yield positive results. Perhaps what’s most worrisome about Collins’ recent comments is the lack of others standing up for Apple. That silence is deafening.

Journalists, radio hosts and fans eager to post on social media websites have hit out at wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. since his first NFL season. It’s no secret Beckham has more than a few friends in the New York locker room who have publicly defended him over the past couple of years. Even former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel had more advocates in that locker room back in 2015 than Apple has today.

None of this is meant to suggest Apple is a lost cause. A situation must be irreparable for a franchise to discard a first-round pick after a pair of seasons, one of which wasn’t an abject failure. Several things need to go right for the Giants to salvage Apple’s career, assuming he is interested in remaining with the club and in the NFL, in general, next year. The young man listening to leaders such as Collins would be a step in the right direction.

Next: NFL 2017: 20 Bold predictions for Week 17

A 2-13 record doesn’t remove the talent on this Giants roster so long as nearly two-dozen players aren’t on injured reserve. Collins, who will be returning from a fractured forearm when training camp sessions begin next summer, emerging as an outspoken respected leader on the defense may help the 2018 Giants achieve the goals had by the 2017 roster last July.