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Michigan football's Smith Snowden is a Swiss Army knife
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- Michigan football's Smith Snowden is a Swiss Army knife
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan football fans are accustomed to seeing some players who are something of a Swiss Utility Knife. Players like Jabrill Peppers , Ambry Thomas , Mike Sainristil , AJ Henning, or, to a lesser extent, current receiver Andrew Marsh , who can do more than just play one position.
Peppers played the most positions, shying only away from playing offensive or defensive tackle. But all of the above have had some experience at least playing their primary position, another position, potentially one on the other side of the ball, and all of them had some special teams role where they excelled.
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And perhaps the Wolverines have another like that.
Having transferred from Utah this past offseason, Smith Snowden is expected to play nickel for the maize and blue. But last season in Salt Lake City, Snowden played cornerback, wide receiver, running back, and kick returner. He finished the year with an impressive statline: 37 tackles, two tackles for loss, nine passes broken up, three kickoff returns for 20 yards, eight carries for 40 yards and a touchdown, and 13 catches for 57 yards.
But he says don't expect to necessarily see him working much on the offensive side of the ball this year -- unless the coaches ask him, and then, by all means.
"I played a little bit of offense last year, had a blast, but I'm a defensive player," Snowden said. "Coach Whitt had presented me with an opportunity last year. He thought I could help the team out, and I was like, OK, if that's the case, yeah, I'll play some offense. But, yeah, when it comes to me playing nickel or corner, I think the coaches are going to plug in, plug us all in at the right place to make plays. So I'm not positive where I'm going to be at yet, but we're going to see come a couple weeks, a couple months."
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If you're going to see Snowden playing a role outside of corner or nickel, then the most likely spot is in the return game. Though he notes that returning kick and punt returner Andrew Marsh continues to be electric, he's an option there, and he's long had a solid rapport with Kerry Coombs, who was hired to oversee special teams before the bowl game late last year.
"Yeah, we have some really good returners. I would love to return," Snowden said. "I think we're just going to see how everything plays out, but we got Andrew Marsh who can go. He's a straight beast, and he's returning right now, I believe.
"And then Coach Coombs, he's awesome. He's a great coach who knows a lot. He has a lot of knowledge to give. He's coached a lot of players, and a lot of players I've actually looked up to growing up because, you know, you're a DB, you watch DBs growing up. That's what it is. So I've known Coach Coombs for a while now. He actually had recruited me when I was back in high school. So just the – everything came full circle. I'm just grateful to be here at Michigan ."
Fans will get the opportunity to see Snowden in action on April 18, when the Wolverines host the annual spring game at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football's Smith Snowden brings versatility
