Carolina Panthers Draft: Was Jeremy Chinn worth trading up for?

The Carolina Panthers moved up in the NFL Draft to take safety Jeremy Chinn, but what can the incoming college recruit bring to the franchise?

With just eight selections in the 2020 NFL Draft, it was something of a surprise that the Carolina Panthers traded one of their selections. This was in order to move up and take safety Jeremy Chinn in the second round.

This represented an area of considerable need for the Panthers, who needed a fresh influx of youth across the defense. This is something they managed to achieve and more, with Carolina becoming the first team in NFL history to use every selection on the defensive side of the ball.

Chinn is a player that comes with a tremendous amount of upside. He is a physical safety that has the ability to cover receivers or tight ends. He fits in with head coach Matt Rhule’s desire to bring in players that can contribute in multiple positions on the field.

It is clear that Rhule has high hopes for Chinn both long-term and in the immediate future.

"“I think we look at him as a guy who can be trained as a safety and as a nickel SAM. He’ll be able to go out and play number two to the field. Also be able to come back in nickel and dime. Maybe even be able to defend some of the backs and tight ends. I think when you look at the NFC South and you see the tight ends that we have to face, when you see the running backs that we have to face, having guys like Chinn that can give us some match ups against those guys. And when we have guys like Shaq Thompson already I mean it just gives you a lot of flexibility. It will be a well thought out plan – and we’ve already thought it out obviously – in terms of training him at safety, but allowing him to fill a bunch of roles down at the second level.”"

The Panthers gave up a pick they could ill-afford to get Chinn on the roster. There is some real potential there providing he works on areas of need during training camp and beyond.