These 3 Michigan Players Are Competing For 'The Premier' Spot on the Defense

Jay Hill spoke to the media this week about three players competing for the starting Nickel role.

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Entering fall camp, looking at the defensive side of the football, the biggest concerns came at both linebacker and cornerback. The Wolverines are forced to start some talented, yet inexperienced linebackers this season.

And as far as the secondary goes, primarily at cornerback, the Wolverines are very thin. Michigan will need to see some players step up to provide depth. But one area that isn't lacking is Michigan's starting corners.

On Wednesday, Day 1 of fall camp, defensive coordinator Jay Hill said he's never been to a school where he feels like he could play any of his top three players at Nickel. Hill said he's been giving all three of his starters a look there.

"Well, so this is the only school I've ever been at where I really believe we could have three great nickels," Hill said this week. "And I can put different guys in there based on mismatch. So Smith Snowden, Zeke Berry, Shug [Jyaire Hill] was taking reps in there today.

"Like those three guys, I've never had three interchangeable guys that are so different at that position. It's a fun luxury to have. And I'm kind of excited to see how I come up with how we do it."

A premier position on the defense

Entering the season, not many people were guessing Jyaire Hill was going to get a look at Nickel. Hill is likely going to be the Wolverines' lockdown corner this season, and a year ago, it was both Hill and Zeke Berry playing the outside.

Berry played some Nickel two seasons ago, but was better suited at corner. As for Smith Snowden, he was Utah's Nickel last season. But according to Hill, all three of them can play the position and he called it a premier spot in the defense.

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"Well, you got to be able to cover man to man," Hill said of playing Nickel. "You got to be able to tackle. You got to be very intelligent because we use those guys in a lot of disguises. We use them to blitz. We use them in zone coverages. We use them in man coverages.

"So those guys really are a real premier spot in this defense. And they got to be pretty adaptable to what we're doing with them. That's a real premier spot in this defense."

Who plays there?

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It's telling of Hill's versatility that he can go from the boundary or field to playing inside at Nickel. But when push comes to shove, it's hard to believe Hill is going to start there.

That leaves Berry and Snowden competing for the job. Under Wink Martindale, Berry was much better playing cornerback. Eary in 2024, Berry was a liability in coverage when playing in Nickel. The Wolverines would end up playing Makari Paige there.

It's possible Berry has grown and could play Nickel this season, however, Snowden was an All-Big 12 player playing the position last season. Don't fix what's broken, and when Michigan's defense takes the field in Week 1, I'd suspect Snowden will start at Nickel.