When Jamie Collins arrived at the NFL Combine Friday, he was prepared to be asked a thousand questions by scouts, coaches, and general managers before he even works out.

Welcome to the background check. Several clubs will interview Collins as he goes through the off-the-field portion of the combine

“I’m ready for whatever and looking forward to it,” said the always confident Collins, a 6-foot-4, 247-pound outside linebacker from the tiny Franklin County town of Quentin.

Collins, recognized for his brash play the last four seasons at Southern Miss, has made him an NFL Draft prospect, with a huge upside. Scouts like his size and his ability to play in both 3-4 and 4-3 defensive alignments as a linebacker or end.

And now comes the testing of his skill sets. Collins will be graded by NFL personnel on Sunday and Monday during workouts at the combine, running the 40-yard dash, side-to-side agility tests, vertical jump, broad jump, cone drills, and bench press.

He’ll also be given a variety of tests to measure his wit and knowledge of the game.

Current projections have Collins going anywhere from the mid-second round to early fourth. With a good combine showing, Collins’ stock could rise dramatically according to NFL scouts.

ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. rates Collins as one of the top outside linebackers in this year’s draft class.

“Jamie has a muscular, athletic-looking frame with powerful hands and long arms,” said Kiper. “He accelerates well in a straight line, and exhibits good flexibility, both coming off the edge as a rusher, as well as when changing direction in space.”

Collins has the unique ability to get after the quarterback and that really impresses the ESPN guru. He had 10 sacks his senior season at USM and was in the Top 15 nationally with tackles for lost yardage.

“He (Jamie) displays a knack for getting to the quarterback off the edge, with impressive natural power on contact,” added Kiper.

Despite a humbling 0-12 season at Southern Miss last year, Collins has bounced back from the dismal campaign to stay among the elite draft prospects.

“Last season was hard,” said Collins. “It was the first time in my career that I’ve went through a losing season. It was frustrating, but as a leader you have to keep going out there and playing hard for your team, no matter the record or score.”

As a prep player at Franklin County, Collins went a combined 37-4 as a starter. He helped lead the Bulldogs to their only 3A State Championship in 2006 as a sophomore starter at quarterback and safety.

“Playing quarterback in high school helped me on defense as a linebacker in college,” admitted Collins. “You know what the QB is thinking because you used to play the position. Stopping him from making the play is the key.”

Collins has no favorite NFL team or player, which is a good thing. All 32 clubs are in play for his services. He follows the New York Knicks in basketball and likes to fish when he has spare time.

Collins will leave the NFL Combine Tuesday and report back to Hattiesburg to prepare for USM’s Pro Day on March 8. He’s been training at the Dr. James Andrews Athlete Performance Center in Gulf Breeze, Fla. the last two months.

“I’m ready,” said Collins. “Ready for all these tests and workouts. I’m going to ace both.”

And with that said, the Collins stock is already rising on what could be the future franchise linebacker of some lucky NFL team come April.