Nickel back is in some ways a little different to judge in the voting for our all-time Tennessee team. Although nickels normally get more playing time than middle linebackers, they often are not considered to be starters by some people, if only because they aren’t good enough to be a starting corner or safety.
The following players saw the most playing time as the nickel back for Tennessee:
Samari Rolle — played nickel in his 2000 1998 rookie season. He’s already on our all-time Tennessee team as the right cornerback.
Donald Mitchell — was with the Titans in 1999 and 2001-2002 and started ten games in 2002 when the Titans began with three-CB packages. He had an interception return for a touchdown in 1999 and scored twice in 2001 on special teams. Perhaps the best nickel who played as that for more than one year.
Andre Woolfolk — The Titans’ first-round draft pick in 2003, Woolfolk was injured too often and didn’t play too well when he wasn’t. In fairness to Andre, he was much better as a nickel in the slot than he was playing outside. He played nickel in his rookie year, then lost his starting job as a corner in 2005 and returned to nickel.
Vince Fuller — Drafted out of Virginia Tech as a “defensive back”, he played both corner and safety in college and he became a natural as a nickel. He broke his ankle on the second game of the 2005 season and was lost for the year, then reclaimed the job and had two pick-sixes last year.
Cortland Finnegan — I don’t mean to say he’s in the same class as Samari, but he also spent his rookie season as a nickelback before moving to corner the next year. My favorite play of his was the hit he put on Chad Pennington to force a fumble which the Titans recovered on the Jets’ one-yard line.
Mitchell’s longevity and continued fine level of play will get him my vote. I’ve got to say I like Fuller and Finnegan too. Who do you like?
In our last poll, Marcus Robertson was your choice as the free safety for our all-time Tennessee team.
Our all-time Tennessee defensive team so far:
LDE Jevon Kearse
LDT Kevin Carter
RDT Albert Haynesworth
RDE Kyle Vanden Bosch
LLB David Thornton
MLB Randall Godfrey
RLB Keith Bulluck
LCB Andre Dyson
RCB Samari Rolle
SS Blaine Bishop
FS Marcus Robertson
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