Four Downs (post-spring): Secondary

IOWA CITY — You have to peel Brandon Snyder's story back a few years, back to his days as a multisport star at West Lyon High School, to get to the part where his mom saved his leg.

It was February 2013 and Snyder's West Lyon hoops team was locked in a substate playoff with perennial power Rock Valley. He went up for a jump shot and came down and something went pop.

Snyder was in and out of the game. There is a ton more detail in this Sioux City Journal story. By the end of the week, Snyder's leg only got worse. His mom, Sheri, made the call to go to a walk-in clinic in Sioux Falls, S.D. It was just in time.

From the Sioux City Journal:

'The doctor I saw actually ended up being a lower leg specialist,' Snyder said. 'He looked at my leg and said that I had compartment syndrome and needed to go have surgery immediately to relieve the pressure.'

Compartment syndrome involves increased pressure in a muscle compartment. It can lead to muscle and nerve damage and problems with blood flow in the arms or legs. Usually it is caused by being kicked or hit hard in the leg or arm, but that was not the case for Snyder.

Little more than two hours later, Snyder was in surgery, having a three-inch incision made to relieve the pressure in his leg. However, something else was discovered during the 45-minute procedure.

'When he made the incision, my peroneus longus (one of the muscles which passes down the outside of the lower leg) fell out of the incision,' Snyder said. 'It was attached but completely torn so he had to suture it back together.

'The doctor said he had never seen that before.'

Try to keep this story in the forefront when you see the sophomore walk-on lineup as Iowa's starting free safety this fall.

Yes, the 6-1, 210-pounder still is a walk-on. Ask him about it and prepare for ... a shrug.

'The walk-on/scholarship thing doesn't really impact me,' said Snyder, who was the Class 1A basketball player of the year his senior season at West Lyon. 'Once I got here, I saw that everyone gets the same opportunity, it's just what you make of it. The walk-on/scholarship thing doesn't mean anything to me. It's cool just finally getting a chance.'

Snyder is a natural athlete. As a ninth grader, he played defensive back and was kicker for the Class A state champs.

'We all liked Brandon Snyder coming out of high school,' defensive coordinator and secondary coach Phil Parker said. 'I thought he was a very smart kid, tough kid. Played multiple sports. Could be a quarterback. Basically understands the game, and obviously he's doing a lot of learning and it takes a lot of pressure.'

Snyder lettered four years in basketball, three in golf and two each in baseball and track. He scored 1,300 points and dished out more than 500 assists. He was a first team all-conference and all-district shortstop as a sophomore. He finished sixth in the state individual golf tournament.

'For me (all of the sports), they just kept everything fresh,' Snyder said. 'You become more well-rounded. You learn different things in every sport. When you get to come here and spend the whole year with football, it's actually pretty sweet.'

Along with weakside linebacker, Snyder will be a first-year starter this season. He's good with that. He spent last year learning under former Hawkeye free safety Jordan Lomax, who put in extra time to make sure everyone was 'getting it.'

'I can't thank Jordan enough for everything he's done for me,' Snyder said. 'He was a coach to me, he was a brother to me. He taught me the ins and outs of the defense. He taught me everything I know.'

4th Down

A ton of factors have to fall into place, but Iowa has a chance to mount up with the 'Secondary of Justice' this fall.

Corners Desmond King and Greg Mabin have combined for 64 starts and one Jim Thorpe Award. Junior Miles Taylor took hold of the strong safety position last season. Snyder faces a learning curve, but has the optimum size you want for a safety.

Plus, King bought a cowboy hat and boots while in Oklahoma City for the Thorpe banquet.

'When I went down to Oklahoma, they said everyone here has a cowboy hat and I always wanted a cowboy hat since I was little,' King said. 'So, I went and got one and there it is.'

The Secondary of Justice. You want that T-shirt.

3rd Down

Iowa has a pretty good mentor/apprentice thing going at corner. You have King and Mabin, who missed spring after shoulder surgery but should be back in the fall. And then you have sophomore Joshua Jackson and redshirt freshman Michael Ojemudia. Jackson, who was held out of contact this spring, picked off QB C.J. Beathard during Iowa's open practice in Des Moines in early April. Ojemudia picked off and returned an interception off QB Tyler Wiegers during the spring game on April 23.

MORE: Joshua Jackson flashes potential

That's a healthy depth chart.

2nd Down

During the spring game, Iowa's third-down rush package (raider/bandit) was DE Anthony Nelson, LB Jack Hockaday, S Anthony Gair and corner Jonathan Lubanza, a walk-on transfer from Northern Michigan and brother of Iowa signee Emmanuel Rugamba.

Iowa used the raider somewhere between three and 10 snaps a game last fall. When facing third-and-6 or more, it was a pretty good bet that Iowa would have raider on the field (three rush linemen, two linebackers and six defensive backs).

Four Downs, Post-Spring:• Defensive line• Linebackers

Probably look for more of it in 2016. Parker didn't totally commit to the idea, and personnel strengths certainly will play a factor.

'I think it was beneficial for us last year, and I still see us using it for next year, and you know, I think it's a good fit, as long as we have the right pieces,' Parker said. 'You know, sometimes we'll go back to our nickel defense. We haven't used much of our four-down defensive linemen with five defensive backs in there.

'We could go back to that and use that. But right now, our plan is to still use the Raider/bandit package.'

1st Down

Iowa signed four defensive backs in February — Lance Billings, Cedric Boswell, Amani Hooker and Rugamba. Hooker, who is up to 212 pounds, is the only potential safety in that group.

Asked if he saw a true freshman factoring this fall, Parker said maybe two.

'I think there's always going to be like two guys we can pick out; one is to play on special teams,' Parker said. 'If they can help us on special teams and they can add depth, right now, I'd hate to say who they are, but I have some ideas where we're going with that.

'Everybody isn't going to be playing in the back end, but we're going to try to get some use out of at least two.'

We can guess, though. So, here's a guess for Rugamba (6-0, 172) and Hooker (6-0, 212).

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com