How Deommodore Lenoir was Able to Successfully Transition to Nickel

LAS VEGAS -- Moving to a new position presents an extraordinary challenge for players.

That is something a handful of players on the San Francisco 49ers need to always prepare for. The 49ers have a tendency to play players out of their natural position. So, of course, when the 49ers needed a slot corner, they looked at Deommodore Lenoir to step in there. Lenoir had never played as a nickel before. In college he was predominantly an outside cornerback.

The 49ers forcing him out of position was going to take time for him to adjust, and that's assuming he even gets it down. However, when the 49ers approached Lenoir about their decision to make that transition, he welcomed it with open arms.

"I'm the person that whatever they ask me to do I'm going to do it to the best of my ability," said Lenoir. "I knew it was something that I had to get used to. You've got to read the run, you've got to read the pass, you've got to read a receiver's body language to know when a run or pass is coming. It was kind of more on me just picking it up fast. I had to find little keys and just lock in to really excel at the position."

Being able to make that transition a successful one is not easy by any measure. For Lenoir, he needed to find inspiration. He needed some sort of guideline that he could use as a reference on how to play closer to the box and the line of scrimmage. That is when he looked to Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw as a model to follow.

"I watched how you're supposed to be with just watching Fred and Greenlaw," said Lenoir. "The intensity they bring inside just playing in the box, so I think I just really wanted to match that. I feel like when you put a nickel in the game it's more for pass and in this league a lot of nickels don't like tackling. They're not really putting the stamp down on a running back. There's no fear in me to tackle anybody."

Lenoir has backed up his words all season long. He now is one of the top slot corners in the game, but to strictly call him a slot/nickel corner doesn't do him justice. Lenoir is able to play inside and out. He's a stellar versatile piece on the 49ers' defense and has become one of the cornerstones for them. No longer is he just a cornerback, just like Warner and Greenlaw aren't simply linebackers.

What Lenoir is now is an ultimate defensive force, and it is partly thanks to him as to why the 49ers' defense is at the level they are at.