Jeremy Chinn observations from watching coach's film

[Jeremy Igo]

Just finished up watching the coach's film of NFL game pass and kept a close eye on #21 Jeremy Chinn on all the defensive snaps. 

I have some observations.

He lined up at OLB and played a hell of a game there. His feet are constantly moving and shuffling, kid is never flat footed. He has really good closing speed and tackling is top notch. 

The only issue I saw at all was he was pretty easily knocked around in the power running game of the Raiders. He was still able to recover and have impact on the play, just not as much as if he wasn't initially pushed back. I suspect when this kid puts 10 pounds of muscle on he is going to be what we always hoped Shaq Thompson would be. 

Honestly, he was the most impressive rookie on the field Sunday. 

[hepcat]

Said it from day 1, he reminds me a lot of young Thomas Davis. He has potential to be a big time starter at OLB for the Panthers from Day 1.

[Waldo]

High upside, I'm just not sure we will play him at his best spot. I would love to see him take Boston's spot. Keep him away from the LOS and give him more coverage responsibilities. Or use 3 safety sets. The guy can cover Riggs and we want him playing a devalued LBer spot to get eaten in run blocks and put on 10 more pounds to slow him down so he can't cover WRs? Meh

[Icege]

He was like a little pinball when those OL would get to the second level, but his athleticism was incredible. I can't wait until his technique gets crisper and the scheme becomes second nature to him. They even tried to pick on him once or twice to no avail.

[Khyber53]

A bit more weight and muscle mass from a year in an NFL program and he'll be even better. He's impressive now, but he also is still adjusting to the NFL game and the NFL players, each of whom are the equivalent of the best player on most teams he faced in college. There's a lot he's going to learn about angles, impacts and rolling with the punches this season.

If he can keep that motor and dedication and pair it with some experience, those Thomas Davis comparisons will be right on the mark. He's definitely got some serious potential.

[run-run-pass-punt]

I'd personally rather him be more of a punishing safety for us at the back end than see him transition to LB fully. (not saying that's the plan, I don't know.) We need help at LB, but we need help/improvement in plenty of areas.

[Rags]

59 minutes ago, Waldo said:

I would love to see him take Boston's spot. Keep him away from the LOS and give him more coverage responsibilities. 

There's a reason Simmons was so coveted.

WLB is basically a nickel now. Yes it does weaken from the traditional WLB but having a that can constantly stay in and cover the TEs, HBs and Slot guys like a safety while having two safeties still.

Considering it was his first game coming from a small school he held up really well in the run game.

We do need to upgrade from Boston, absolutely,  but he's a solid starter contrary to Huddle belief and a good Role Player for now. We couldn't fill all our holes in a year and we could do a lot worse than Boston.

[amcoolio]

I was thinking how if we still had Luke we'd have a decent front 7 with Chinn at OLB and could probably make some noise this year, but Whitehead is really really bad and its going to drag everything else down

[Jared Patterson]

I DM'd Joe Marino and Jon Ledyard (who now works for the Bucs) and they both said Chinn looked like the best player on our entire defense and hasn't even touched his potential. 

[Wolfcop]

One thing was obvious: when he hits you, you feel it. He packs a wallop. 

[Waldo]

2 hours ago, Rags said:

There's a reason Simmons was so coveted.

WLB is basically a nickel now. Yes it does weaken from the traditional WLB but having a that can constantly stay in and cover the TEs, HBs and Slot guys like a safety while having two safeties still.

Considering it was his first game coming from a small school he held up really well in the run game.

We do need to upgrade from Boston, absolutely,  but he's a solid starter contrary to Huddle belief and a good Role Player for now. We couldn't fill all our holes in a year and we could do a lot worse than Boston.

I don't see the value of a WLB that can play some safety being more than a safety that can play WLB and CB in the modern area. And Shaq was a spectacular matchup failure in that role the last few years. He wasn't good because he was a LB playing in the nickle where Chinn is perfect now just how he is.

[Carl Spackler]

I loved watching him fly around the field. Seemed like if the ball was within 10 yards of him, he was making the tackle or at least slowing the ballcarrier up. 

[top dawg]

Well, I told you Anderson would surprise, and Chinn would be a revelation. 

I was just 17 points off on the (Raiders') score. That's all. LOL

I have insight into some things!

 

Toot toot!

[Rags]

1 hour ago, Waldo said:

I don't see the value of a WLB that can play some safety being more than a safety that can play WLB and CB in the modern area. And Shaq was a spectacular matchup failure in that role the last few years. He wasn't good because he was a LB playing in the nickle where Chinn is perfect now just how he is.

Because if you don't have to sub as much, its harder for the offense to catch on and react. You have more of an element of surprise. 

If you look at players like James and Adams as top shelf, S+ tier examples of this, they can play anywhere, in the box, rush the passer, even deep. Look at Adams hotspots from Sunday they're fuging nuts. Matt Ryan noted how difficult it was to keep track of what he was doing. 

Go down a tier or two and you get more of a Chinn. No one is expecting him to be like the S tiers. Put him somewhere where he can do what he's best at and gifted for. Basically playing Buffalo Nickel, he's listed as a WLB but doesn't have to sub out. If he was listed as safety it'd be be basically the same thing, covering the slot, contributing on the run, occasionally blitz. He's still gonna be playing weakside more often than not, and giving the offense one less tell.

Sure I'd like to see Chinn tested deep more, but I'm not gonna sweat it right now. He looked good, even above expectations in his debut. If he keeps this up I'd like to see him with more responsiblities.