Nickel Takes on Added Importance in Defensive Scheme

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – In a candy store, Tywan Francis would head straight to the Starburst. In the defensive room, it's the nickel position.

In Freddie Banks' defensive scheme, it's the position – much like his favorite treat – which offers such a variety and satisfies his competitive taste buds. Francis has played the position before, but never like this.

"In this scheme, I think it's allowing me to be the best football player I can be and use all my skills, not just covering. Last year, we only brought the nickel in for passing downs, so now I'm able to blitz, I'm able to show I can tackle, show I can cover, really show I can do anything the other 11 guys are going to do," Francis said. "I'm going to have to cover like a cornerback, I have to tackle like a safety and I have to shed blocks like a linebacker. It's really giving me the ability to show my skills."

For Banks, the evolution of the position had to mimic the arc of the game. Defenses are not seeing as much 12 or 21 personnel as they used to as teams spread out the field with one-back sets and even empty backfields in favor of extra wideouts. But teams still must defend the run, and instead of shuffling in personnel packages as offenses push the tempo, he found a spot on the field where a do-it-all player can really do it all.

Where the nickel used to be a third-down switch, Colorado State will feature the player as an every-down defender who also helps set the structure of the defense.

"The difference between the nickel from last year is we'd have different packages where we'd have a nickel in in certain situations and a linebacker in other situations," said Henry Blackburn, who has impressed with his IQ to the point he is learning both safety positions and nickel. "In this defense, the nickel's in the whole game. The nickel's got to be able to be in the box, he has to be able to cover a slot receiver, he's got to be able to have a wide range in this defense. It places a lot of responsibility on the nickels, but I think it's a great thing and I think we've been handling it well so far this spring."

Blackburn said after the first week of installation and defensive meetings, it became clear to him the increased value the position held in Banks' scheme. No longer was it a part-time job.

It didn't take Francis that long. Naturally, Banks had to hope he would find the right person for the job when he arrived on campus, and after watching film of Francis last year, when he was second on the team with 88 tackles in 11 games played and among the squad's leaders in passes defended, he knew he had found his man. Still, he figured he'd have to sell Francis.

Not at all.

"Then I was like, I pray to God he wants to play nickel, but he actually came to me before and said, 'Coach I want to play nickel.' He had done some research before we had installed or talked football that he wanted to play nickel," Banks said. "You can develop them, but we had a guy who was here already and Henry's learning nickel also. He's learning all three, but Tywan is really that perfect mold. If we could clone him and have him every year, he'd be exactly what we want out of that guy. A guy who's tough, he can play man on the slot, he can blitz and if he ends up in the box, we don't have to sub him out. He's 195 pounds, so we can function with him in the game."

Banks is happy he has a couple of players who fit the mold already on campus, but the position will require depth, which is what he'll target continually in the recruiting process. Some of them he will have to build into the role, but he will seek out those who are built for the position.

As Blackburn learns it all, what he likes most about nickel is what he likes best about the game itself -- the physical element.

"I feel like this defense and the nickel position in particular fits our style of play really well. We like to hit, and we're physical DBs," he said. "That's part of our game and we like to show that. This defense allows us to be able to show that.

"We get to play football. That's what it's all about. We don't have to come out of the game; nobody wants to come out of the game. We want to have the biggest impact we can for our team, and us being able to do that is an awesome thing."

Every offense is going to search out the middle backer to set protections, but Banks said the alert quarterbacks will find the nickel to see if he's showing any tells as to blitz and coverage packages. The nickels, Banks said, must be really adept at hiding them, and so far, Francis has shown he can keep a secret.

Most of all, Francis was enamored by the role for what it allows him to do, which is a bit of everything all the time. He'll be on the field every down, but what he does from play to play will differ. It really is like reaching into a bag of Starburst for him – or a bag of Skittles for Blackburn -- wondering what flavor he'll pull out.

"The first meeting we had, he told me the nickel is an important part of this defense. I was open to it already because I played the position, but I was like, I've got to be out there," Francis said. "He was, well, you're going to be out there and allowed to do what you do. It's kind of an honor to play nickel coming out in a special package, but now we're out there every play. We need that. The team needs that.

"I'm a kid in a candy store: We're having fun out here with this. We're right in the middle of it, we're right in the middle of everything. I can catch a pick one play, and I can get a sack the next play. Not everybody on the field gets to do those things."

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