La'el Collins

A key free agent acquisition during the 2022 offseason, Collins started 15 games at ROT for the Bengals before suffering a season-ending left knee injury in Game 15 at New England ... Part of revamped offensive line that featured four new starters ... Helped O-line allow 13 fewer sacks in Weeks 8-16 than it did in first eight weeks ... Spent first seven pro seasons (2015-21) with Dallas, where he was a staple on some of the top O-lines in football ... Began career at LG from 2015-16, before taking over at ROT from '17-21 ... Missed majority of 2016 (toe) and all of '20 (hip) ... Spent four healthy seasons (2017-19 and '21) as Cowboys' No. 1 ROT — Dallas led NFL in total offense last two of those seasons ('19 and '21), ranked in top 10 in rushing offense in all four, and three times (2017, '19 and '21) ranked within top 11 teams in fewest sacks allowed ... Blocked for 1000-yard rusher in four of his five healthy seasons (including one at LG) in Dallas ... Has started 86 of 89 career games played (regular season) ... Originally a college free agent signee of the Cowboys in 2015 ... Played first three seasons (2015-17) under Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack, who was Dallas' offensive line coach at the time, and credited Pollack as key factor in choosing to sign with Cincinnati.

Pro Career:

• A key free agent acquisition during the 2022 offseason, Collins started 15 games at ROT for the Bengals before suffering a season-ending left knee injury in Game 15 at New England ... Part of revamped offensive line that featured four new starters ... Helped O-line allow 13 fewer sacks in Weeks 8-16 than it did in first eight weeks ... Spent first seven pro seasons (2015-21) with Dallas, where he was a staple on some of the top O-lines in football ... Began career at LG from 2015-16, before taking over at ROT from '17-21 ... Missed majority of 2016 (toe) and all of '20 (hip) ... Spent four healthy seasons (2017-19 and '21) as Cowboys' No. 1 ROT — Dallas led NFL in total offense last two of those seasons ('19 and '21), ranked in top 10 in rushing offense in all four, and three times (2017, '19 and '21) ranked within top 11 teams in fewest sacks allowed ... Blocked for 1000-yard rusher in four of his five healthy seasons (including one at LG) in Dallas ... Has started 86 of 89 career games played (regular season) ... Originally a college free agent signee of the Cowboys in 2015 ... Played first three seasons (2015-17) under Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack, who was Dallas' offensive line coach at the time, and credited Pollack as key factor in choosing to sign with Cincinnati.

Career Transactions:

• Signed with Dallas as college free agent on 5-8-15 ... Signed contract extension with Cowboys on 7-26-17 ... Signed contract extension with Cowboys on 1-22-18 ... Signed contract extension with Cowboys on 9-3-19 ... Signed contract extension with Cowboys on 3-16-20 ... Signed contract extension with Cowboys on 3-10-21 ... Contract terminated by Cowboys on 3-17-22 ... Signed with Cincinnati as free agent on 3-21-22.

2022 Season:

• Started 15 games at ROT for Cincinnati, before suffering left knee injury on Dec. 24 at New England and missing remainder of the season ... Played 85.9 percent (950 of 1106) of offensive snaps during the regular season, sixth-most on the team ... Blocked for QB Joe Burrow, who set single-season team records for completions (414) and passing TDs (35), while ranking in the top six leaguewide in completion percentage (68.3, second), passing yards (4475, fifth), and passer rating (100.8, sixth) ... Helped open holes for HB Joe Mixon's 153 rushing yards and four rushing TDs on Nov. 6 vs. Carolina, before being rested in the fourth quarter of 21-point win ... Played every snap on Dec. 4 against Kansas City, paving the way for HB Samaje Perine's 106 rushing yards on 21 attempts (5.0 average), while protecting Burrow as he completed 80.6 percent of his passes (25 of 31), including nine of 11 in the fourth quarter ... Sustained knee injury in first quarter of Game 15 at New England, and was placed on Reserve/Injured list on Dec. 30.

Previous Seasons:

• 2021 (Cowboys)— Played in 12 regular-season games (10 starts at ROT) and one postseason game (start at ROT) for Dallas ... Helped Cowboys lead the NFL in total offense (407.0) and rank ninth in rushing offense (124.6), and blocked for Ezekiel Elliott's 1002 rushing yards ... Missed Games 1-6 while on Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner list ... Made season debut in Game 7 (Oct. 31 at Minnesota) and played as a reserve, then returned to starting ROT spot the following week (Nov. 7 at Denver) ... Started all but one game (Nov. 25 vs. Las Vegas) at ROT the remainder of regular season and postseason.
• 2020 (Cowboys)— Did not play ... Suffered hip injury prior to start of Dallas' training camp and on Sept. 7 was placed on Reserve/Injured, where he spent the entire season.
• 2019 (Cowboys)— Started 15 games at ROT, missing one (Oct. 13 at N.Y. Jets) with a knee injury ... Helped Cowboys lead the NFL in total offense (431.5 yards per game), rank second in passing offense (296.9) and rank fifth in rushing offense (134.5), while also allowing the second-fewest sacks (23) ... Dallas' 6904 total yards and 379 first downs on the season were both team records ... Aided blocking effort for RB Ezekiel Elliott's 1357 rushing yards (fourth in NFL).
• 2018 (Cowboys)— Started all 16 regular-season games and both postseason games at ROT for Dallas ... Helped RB Ezekiel Elliott lead the NFL in rushing yardage (1434 yards) ... Aided blocking effort for Dallas offense which, for the first time in team history, had a 4000-yard passer (Dak Prescott), 1000-yard rusher (Elliott) and two 1000-yard receivers (Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup).
• 2017 (Cowboys)— Made switch to ROT, and started all 16 games for Dallas ... Helped Cowboys top 2000 rushing yards as a team and rank second in the NFL in rushing offense (135.6 per game) ... Dallas allowed 32 sacks on the season, tied for 10th fewest leaguewide.
• 2016 (Cowboys)— Started first three games at LG for Cowboys, before suffering season-ending toe injury in Week 3.
• 2015 (Cowboys)— Played in 12 games (11 starts at LG) as a rookie for Dallas ... Made NFL debut on Sept. 20 at Philadelphia, rotating series at LG with Mackenzy Bernadeau after Cowboys' starter, Ronald Leary was sidelined ... Made first career start the following week, on Sept. 27 vs. Atlanta, and held onto the spot for the remainder of the season ... Aided blocking effort for 1000-yard rushing season by RB Darren McFadden.

College:

• Spent four seasons (2011-14) at Louisiana State University, and played in 45 games (38 starts) ... Reserve offensive lineman as a freshman, started at LG as a sophomore, then started at LT as a junior and senior ... As a senior in 2014, was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the top offensive lineman in the SEC, as voted by league coaches ... Also as a senior, earned USA Today and AP second-team All-America honors, and first-team All-SEC by coaches and AP.

High School/Personal:

• Hometown is Baton Rouge, La. ... Attended Redemptorist High School, where he was named to the Louisiana 3A All-State team his final three seasons ... Played in 2011 Under Armour All-American Game ... Was high school teammates at Redemptorist with former Bengals RB Jeremy Hill, whom he also played with at LSU (Collins was one year ahead of Hill) ... First name is pronounced "luh-ELL."