Deatrick Nichols
No. 35 – New Orleans Saints | |||||||||||
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Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Miami, Florida | June 8, 1994||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Miami Central (West Little River, Florida) | ||||||||||
College: | South Florida | ||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2018 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics as of 2018 | |||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Deatrick Nichols (born June 8, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Florida.
Early life and high school
Nichols was born and grew up in Miami, Florida and was a childhood friend of future South Florida teammate and current Cincinnati Bengals running back Quinton Flowers. He attended Miami Central High School in West Little River, Florida where he played football and ran track.[1] In football, Nichols recorded 105 tackles, 12 interceptions and two forced fumbles in four years as the Rockets won state championships in his freshman, junior, and senior seasons.[2] Regarded as a three-star recruit by most recruiting services, Nichols committed to play college football at the University of South Florida, where his former high school coach Telly Lockette was on the coaching staff, over offers from several higher profile programs, including LSU, Tennessee, Miami, and Clemson.[3]
College career
Nichols played four seasons for the South Florida Bulls and started at defensive back his final three years. As a freshman, Nichols came off the bench as a reserve defensive back in seven games and started one game. He became a starter going into his sophomore season and was named first team All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) after recording 62 tackles, 8.5 for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery along with a team leading four interceptions, one of which he returned for USF's only defensive touchdown of the season, and five passes broken up. As a junior, he led the Bulls with four interceptions and seven pass breakups and made 49 tackles (2.0 for loss) and was named second team All-AAC. As a senior, Nichols recorded 56 tackles, 12 pass breakups and 3 interceptions and was again named first team All-AAC.[4] Nichols finished his collegiate career with 175 tackles, 11 interceptions (third most in school history), 24 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one sack and 14.5 tackles for loss in 50 games played.[5]
Professional career
Arizona Cardinals
Nichols signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2018.[6] Nichols made his NFL debut on September 16, 2018 against the Los Angeles Rams, playing on special teams.[7] He was waived on October 8, 2018 and was re-signed to the practice squad.[8][9] He was promoted to the active roster on October 18, 2018, but was waived two days later and re-signed back to the practice squad on October 23.[10][11][12] He was promoted to the active roster on December 18, 2018.[13] He was waived by the Cardinals on December 28, 2018.[14] In total, Nichols appeared in two games, exclusively on special teams, with one tackle during his rookie season.[15] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cardinals on December 31, 2018.[16]
Nichols was waived by the Cardinals as part of final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.[17]
Houston Roughnecks
Nichols was selected by the Houston Roughnecks in the 39th Round (round nine of phase four) of the 2020 XFL Draft.[18] Nichols recorded 24 tackles (three for loss), with a sack, six passes defended and a league leading three interceptions before the 2020 XFL season was cancelled following growing concerns about the COVID-19 virus.[19] He was placed on the reserve/other league list on March 23, after signing with the Saints.[20]
New Orleans Saints
Nichols was signed by the New Orleans Saints on March 24, 2020.[21]
References
- ^ Fiallo, Josh (August 24, 2017). "Flowers, Nichols share unbreakable bond". The Oracle. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Czarnecki, Sandy (August 12, 2015). "Get to Know USF's Defensive Backs". SportsTalkFlorida.com. WHBO. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ "Miami Central DB Deatrick Nichols Verbally Commits To USF Football". TheDailyStampede.com. SB Nation. May 31, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ DeVriend, Jamie (August 23, 2017). "USF Football Player Profile: #3 CB Deatrick Nichols". TheDailyStampede.com. SB Nation. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- ^ Mitchell, Walter (May 14, 2018). "Cardinals' UDFA Gem #2: Deatrick Nichols, CB, South Florida". RevengeOfTheBirds.com. SB Nation. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ Simon, Nick (April 28, 2018). "Former USF CB Deatrick Nichols Signs with Arizona Cardinals as Undrafted Free Agent". The Daily Stampede. SB Nation. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ "Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams - September 16th, 2018-Snap counts". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ^ Urban, Darren (October 8, 2018). "Cardinals Add Kendall Wright To Receiving Corps". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ "Cardinals re-sign CB Deatrick Nichols to practice squad". ArizonaSports.com. October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ Urban, Darren (October 18, 2018). "Cardinals Cut Kendall Wright, Re-Sign Deatrick Nichols". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ Urban, Darren (October 20, 2018). "Cardinals Sign Veteran Safety Eddie Pleasant". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ "Arizona Cardinals sign OL Oday Aboushi, release Ifeadi Odenigbo". ArizonaSports.com. October 23, 2018.
- ^ Urban, Darren (December 18, 2018). "Cardinals Make More Moves At Cornerback". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ Root, Jess (December 28, 2018). "Cardinals promote WR Malachi Dupre, DT Pasoni Tasini from practice squad". Cards Wire. USA Today.
- ^ "Deatrick Nichols 2018 Fantasy Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Odegard, Kyle (December 31, 2018). "Charles Kanoff Among Eight Players Signed To Future Contracts". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ Allen, Scott (September 1, 2019). "Arizona Cardinals make a couple of surprising cuts". RaisingZona.com. FanSided. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Zucker, Joseph (October 16, 2019). "XFL Draft 2019 Results: Complete Rosters for Every Team". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ Shuck, Barry (March 14, 2020). "5 XFL players the Browns should sign". DawgsByNature.com. SB Nation. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- ^ "XFL Transactions". XFL.com. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ Just, Amie (March 23, 2020). "Saints sign XFL DB Deatrick Nichols". NOLA.com. Retrieved March 23, 2020.