Is Downs a Nickel?

My3Sons

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See him listed as a NCB. Is that what he played at tOSU? In the new defense, is that a hybrid safety?

I am curious if this is the position he played in his college days?

I am a fan of Downs, but trying to manage expectations if he is changing up what he is used to playing.
 
Right now he’s a nickle but it won’t be long before he’s a million. Seriously, the indication from the coaches is that they are going to move him around so he’ll be all over the field.
 
Considering the defense will be in the nickel a great deal of the time, you want Downs to be the Nickelback.
 
He will move all over the defense.

Nickel defense he will move to the slot and I imagine in base formation he is back at safety
 
In college he played strong safety the nickel ch at Ohio State last year I think was Matthews. Downs was a box safety
 
He’s likely to play several positions in the secondary. A lot of that will be positioned in the slot but won’t function quite the same as a true nickel CB.

I expect the front 7 to operate similarly to the cowboys under Eberflus. The real change will be on the back end. If you’re a Texas fan and watched the Ohio state defense last night I think their set up could be similar to what the cowboys end up doing with those 3 deep DB looks but the cowboys likely have a more complex version of that as they have a guy like downs who can move all over and do an ok job straight covering from the slot but also drop back into a centerfield type S or move up and play close to the LOS almost functioning as an extra LB on the field.
 
See him listed as a NCB. Is that what he played at tOSU? In the new defense, is that a hybrid safety?

I am curious if this is the position he played in his college days?

I am a fan of Downs, but trying to manage expectations if he is changing up what he is used to playing.
Just like at OSU he will be all over. Nickle. Slot. LB. CB. S. Whatever the situation dictates he will play. No reason to manage expectations for the DROY.
 

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