Long-limbed, physical corners who still can run are in vogue in the NFL, as the Atlanta Falcons proved Friday night. The Falcons selected former LSU cornerback Jalen Collins at No. 42 overall, the 10th pick of the second round.

The NFL is a copycat league. Remember when the Miami Dolphins started running Ronnie Brown out in the Wildcat formation, then everyone else followed suit? The same thing is happening with cornerbacks, which happens to be very good news for Collins.

With a slew of big, rangy corners dominating the league — think Richard Sherman and his Seattle Seahawks teammates — Collins fits a new mold for cover men. At 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds, he has the size and strength, not to mention speed (4.48 40-yard dash time) to compete with the NFL’s big, physical receivers.

Collins broke out as an excellent player at LSU in 2014, declaring for the draft a year early, after playing as a reserve for much of his career. In his final season, he registered 38 tackles (3.0 for loss), one interception and nine pass breakups, which tied for LSU’s team lead. However, he only started 10 games for his collegiate career.

Just days before the draft, a report came out that Collins had failed multiple drug tests during his NFL career. Projected to go somewhere in the latter-third of the first round, that information did seem to affect how NFL general managers felt about him.

Collins becomes Les Miles’ 64th player taken during his time at LSU, and the first LSU player taken this year.

SDS writer Brett Weisband contributed to this story.