Panthers Have 'More Roles' for Jeremy Chinn Than Initially Thought
Although extremely talented, Carolina's defense will likely experience some growing pains in year one of Ejiro Evero's 3-4 scheme.
Several players will be lining up in spots that they are not as familiar with and in some areas, the Panthers don't have the ideal body types in the two-deep. That will change over the next year or so as GM Scott Fitterer will tweak the roster in future drafts and free agent periods to accommodate the new defensive look.
One of the biggest mysteries with this side of the ball heading into the 2023 season is what the plan will be for the versatile Jeremy Chinn. He's played linebacker, slot corner, free safety, strong safety, nickel, you name it, Chinn's played it. Alright, maybe not defensive tackle, but you get it.
"We think very highly of him," Evero said. "I think he's a heck of a player. He's a weapon that we're definitely going to try to utilize and I know that he's an asset for us to have. I don't want to get too much into the specifics but we value his skillset. He's a guy that can do a lot of different things. You just got to have him on the field and we're going to figure that out as we work."
Personally, I'm in the camp of playing Chinn primarily down in the box where he can have more of an impact on the game as opposed to playing away from the action. During the first practice of OTAs open to the media, he was seen working with the defensive backs group and even made a play on a deep ball from Bryce Young to Adam Thielen.
After hearing head coach Frank Reich talk about Chinn on Monday, I doubt we'll see him locked into one spot.
"He's really just embracing his role. It's going to be different for him. And talking to EJ [Ejiro Evero] the other day about some other possibilities and I know it's offseason and we've only done phase one, phase two, and this is just the start. But we're really excited about how he's going to fit into our scheme. After talking to EJ, there's probably even more roles for him than what we thought."
You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:
Facebook - @PanthersOnSI
Twitter - @AllPanthers_ and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_
