I think the starters are set with Hightower sliding to Mike, Collins at Sam and Mayo at Will, at least in the 4-3. In the 3-4 you probably just stand Ninkovich or Chandler up.
In subpackages I think Collins will be next to Mayo, effectively eliminating the need to play a safety at the money position. Collins has better size than any safety you could put there and seems like the next evolution of subpackage player, since he can cover big tight ends or even be sent after the quarterback.
Perhaps the biggest question is whether or not Collins overtakes Mayo as the top coverage linebacker. Mayo has always had the speed and smarts but he’s just never seemed to develop that coverage savvy that someone like Bruschi had.
Take a look at Victor Cruz’s TD in SB 46 to see what I’m talking about. Mayo has the perfect call to at least defend the pass and probably should’ve intercepted it. Instead he never gets his head around and it’s six points. This is an indicative example of the biggest weakness I see in Mayo’s game.