Sir Purr
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Chinn's playing linebacker for the Panthers partly out of necessity (there were veteran options in the secondary that didn't exist in the linebacker room when he arrived), and partly because they want to capitalize on his versatility. So far, he's proven himself able to take on multiple roles with the coverage ability and range that makes him useful in many ways.
Asked about Chinn's eventual role, Panthers run game coordinator Al Holcomb just laughed.
"That's a great question, and it's a hard question," Holcomb said. "This young man is so early in his career, there are a lot of questions about how big he's going to be and how he grows as a player. We also have to see how the defense is shaped and how we develop a defense in Carolina, so we can't say definitively what the role is.
"What he is, is a modern-day NFL player, a guy who can make an impact as a second-level or third-level defender."
Chinn's listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds (and it's a narrow 220, probably closer to 217, as he still has a slight build), so the eventual physical demands of playing closer to the line of scrimmage could necessitate a change.
When he talked about his role models in the game and what he expected as he prepared for the draft, Chinn rattled off a list of names of guys he tried to sample from.
"Coming into the league, I planned on being a weapon," he said. "That's how the pre-draft process was, whether I would be an outside linebacker or be a safety, in college tried to show I could do both.
"Growing up, I watched everybody. I watched safeties around the league. I was a big Ed Reed fan, big Bob Sanders fan. Even before coming to the league, I watched guys like Derwin James, Jamal Adams, Tyrann Mathieu, I just tried to pick certain things from all their games. Harrison Smith as well."
You'll notice there's not a linebacker among that group.