Explain the Nickel and Snowden

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- 07/28/2025 at 11:31 AM #245535
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  OffensiveLineEnthusiast
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  I need a ball-knower. In my understanding, the nickel back comes in only when the formation calls for an extra defensive back to replace a linebacker.
  
  My confusion comes from Smith Snowden being called the nickel. In spring ball, Whitt would say that Scooby Davis had one outside cornerback position locked up, Snowden had the nickel locked up, and they were trying to figure out the other outside cornerback.
  
  Is Snowden our best cornerback, or is he not? If he is our best cornerback, why isn’t he the outside cornerback where he would play in all formations?
- 07/28/2025 at 12:17 PM #245538
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  2008 National Champ
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  terminolgy: Nickel refers to a 5 DB lineup. Dime is 6 or more DB’s.
  
  With the onset of spread, single RB and multiple WR offenses, teams began countering with nickel defenses as their base turning 4-3 and 3-4 packages into 4-2 and 3-3 even though the talking heads still refer to front 7.
  
  As to Snowden, much like Clark Phillips, he is undersized for covering the bigger receivers who usually play “outside” so Scalley would rather play him over the slot receiver which typically isn’t a size mismatch. Phillips was better than any other DB on the roster so Scalley was willing to sacrifice size and live with losing out on the occasional 50/50 ball. That’s the determination they will be making in fall camp with Snowden. Is Snowden + Nickel better for the team than Snowden + Outside corner. Phillips and Snowden are/were the most athletic in the room. But neither has Jaylen Johnson size which would make them a no-brainer to lock up with the other team’s WR1.
  
  For Snowden’s future, playing the slot full-time matches what would be asked of him if he makes it to the next level. And what would really be best for Utah would probably be to move Tao back to the Nickel, Snowden outside, and have a true ball-hawk play Free. But you have to play with the roster you have instead of the roster you want. Think of how much better Utah’s defense was when they finally had enough quality corners so that Julian Blackmon could move to Free.
  - 07/28/2025 at 12:29 PM #245541
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    OffensiveLineEnthusiast
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    How often does Utah go into the nickel formation? Will Snowden ever be on the field when we’re not in nickel formation?
    - 07/28/2025 at 1:36 PM #245547
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      Ute Dub
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      Nickel is Utah’s base defense and has been since coming into the PAC 12. Sometimes Utah will have 3 LB ers but that’s not the norm when playing 3 receiver set teams, which are the most common. Jav Guidrey was amazing at Nickel, so was Justin Thomas before him. Also, Nickel is the toughest position to play because the learning curve, mentally, is much higher.
    - 07/28/2025 at 1:55 PM #245549
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      2008 National Champ
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      How often varies by opponent and Utah’s roster composition. When you had two great LB’s like 2016 through 2021, Utah ran nickel probably 75% of the time. The last couple of years, they’ve been going with more 3 LB sets and even been playing around with 3 DE, 1 DL, 3 LB sets. Part of that is to give different looks but it’s also been to cover weaknesses in position groups. Especially at DL where for all the promise Tafuna, Tanuvasa or Pepa showed in short bursts, none were able to sustain that level over full games or full seasons like we had gotten used to in the 2010’s. And when you have to counter size with speed on the DL, you also have to adjust behind them which caused them to go bigger at LB or commit their Strong in edge containment. Bishop was great at that in 2022/23 but Vaki not so much.
      
      Snowden will probably be on the field every play pending health and game score. He’s that good. But he does have weaknesses and based on interviews, Scalley would like to be able to move him around which will hopefully be a force multiplier as well as not allowing the Offense to key on him for their calls. Snowden doesn’t have the size to shut down one side of the field like JJ did but if the other team doesn’t want to throw against him, having them not know who he is going to cover has the possibility of forcing the other QB to take an extra half-second to identify where he is. And since college QB throw % drops off a cliff if they don’t get rid of the ball in 2 seconds or less, that extra little bit of hesitation can be a difference maker if properly employed.
    - 07/28/2025 at 2:05 PM #245550
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      Chasqui
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      Matchups will also be key. In the past we have used our nickel to cover their TE if he was undersized. Snowden has the athleticism to do that much better than a linebacker could if he is small. Keeping Snowden at the nickel isn’t a knock on him at all but a recognition of his high IQ and versatility.
- 07/28/2025 at 1:26 PM #245544
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  Tyler Henry
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  I am high on Blake Cotton; he is our second highest-ranked transfer this year. I expect him to take over CB #1, or maybe even Donovan Saunders. Snowden is a solid #2 in my mind, but his size will hurt him. CP was small too, but that kid was cut from a different cloth.
- 07/28/2025 at 11:40 PM #245559
  
  MG_Ute
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  Inject this thread into my veins please. Loved reading the detailed break downs. Thanks to all who responded. Just terrific content that I learned a lot from. Oh and please can football start sooner than later?
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