Las Vegas Bolsters Secondary With Versatile Safety
The Las Vegas Raiders’ secondary took a hit when Tre’von Moehrig departed in free agency to join the Carolina Panthers. To help cover that loss, the Raiders brought in versatile safety Jeremy Chinn.
“He’s got such an amazing skill set for a man of his size,” general manager John Spytek said of the 6-foot-3, 220-pound safety, via ESPN. “And you love the intelligence and the instincts that go with it.”
A Multi-Position Asset
Drafted in the second round by the Panthers in 2020, Chinn has proven to be a highly flexible defender. He has played various roles in the secondary, including linebacker, deep free safety, and nickel corner.
During his one year under Dan Quinn in Washington, Chinn was deployed in a wide variety of alignments. According to Pro Football Focus, he logged 470 snaps in the box as a linebacker, 369 as a free safety, 222 as a slot corner, 106 on the defensive line, and 40 as a wide corner.
“He’s like a big nickel,” Spytek said. “You love his size on the edge, his ability to blitz [and] support the run. Then he’s a guy that can still drop and play as part of the deep coverage, too.”
Built on Versatility
Chinn credits his adaptability to his early NFL experiences. “I think it started early on in my rookie season,” Chinn said. “Just being in a situation where I was asked to do a lot of certain things and just kind of made my mindset like, this is the life of the NFL, like, there’s going to be a lot of different roles, a lot of different roles, a lot of different responsibilities. So I just kind of took that and rode with it for the rest of my career.”
Key Addition for a Question-Filled Defense
The Raiders’ defense, undergoing a transition, features a young and unproven cornerback group. Chinn’s ability to contribute in multiple roles will provide valuable flexibility for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. “I feel like I can affect the game in a lot of ways,” Chinn said. “In this defense, it’s allowing me to do that.”
