Ted Nguyen at The Athletic on why the secret to a great defense is having a premium nickel:
Obviously, with the rise of pass-heavy offenses and three-receiver personnel, a third corner who can cover slot receivers is important, but with how good modern offenses are at creatively using their personnel, the demands of a nickel are as high as ever. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald run a system that’s become the trendiest in the league. A core tenet of that system is being able to defend the run from light boxes and sub personnel (five or more defensive backs). To do that, the nickel has to be a third linebacker at times.
Also, offenses have trended toward throwing to the middle of the field, so the nickel will almost always be closest to the ball on run and pass. You want your best player to be consistently in the action. In 2009, Hall of Famer Charles Woodson won the defensive player of the year award after moving inside, which was a position change that was well ahead of its time. In 2020, Jalen Ramsey had a similar impact playing the star position, which is what Nick Saban-influenced systems call nickels. True multi-tool nickels don’t grow on trees, but the best defenses in the league have one, and moving your best defensive back there can pay dividends.
…The nickel position has evolved so much that coaches might even dedicate a specialized coach to them.
“I do think that’s something I would consider at the next place,” [Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse]** Minter** said. “For us, our secondary often meets together, and so they’re in that room from a pass-coverage standpoint. They’re with the safeties during some drills, they’re with corners during some drills. We’d get with the linebackers in certain run fit situations.”
As is usually the case with Nguyen, there are specific examples and plays that are demonstrated to back up his point. The whole article is worth a read.
This is why the Bears so badly missed Kyler Gordon, who was lost to injury for most of the season. They tried to get by with Nick McCloud and C.J. Gardner-Johnson but they didn’t have anyone on the roster that had the versatility to play the nickel cornerback position as it’s being played in the most modern NFL defenses. Nickel backs have have the versatility to be able to play cornerback, safety, off-ball linebacker and, in some cases, pass rusher. That kind of versatility is hard to find. The Bears couldn’t find it without Gordon.
It’s going to be interesting to see what defensive coordinator Dennis Allen does with this defense once he has everyone healthy. I also wonder if the Bears won’t be looking for more depth at the nickel position beyond Gordon. In an ideal world, Allen would hav more than one player who can fill in to get the job done. Such players may be tough to find now, however. Again, from Nguyen:
So, where do you find these types of players? The truth is, they are very rare, akin to finding great quarterbacks. You can find 32 guys who can play the position, but there are maybe five to 10 nickels who are truly exceptional game-changers. And if they are available in the draft, they should be bona fide first-round picks.
“The value of a great nickel is way higher than what most personnel departments think,” [Eagles safeties coach Joe] Kasper said. “Most personnel departments are really way behind the times. They think that they need the outside guy first and the inside guy second, and you know that inside piece is really a mid-round type guy. I totally disagree (with their going that low), the way that the game is going. When you look at it, you look at these offenses that run in-breaking routes off of reductions, and then that is already defeating quarter leverage. And then we talk like, ‘Oh, well, the corner is still the most important one.’ I just think that that’s grossly inaccurate if you’re talking about keeping up with the times.”