Jeremy Chinn

Career arc: 116 rookie tackles, two middle years of injury and reduced role, then a two-team resurrection as a defensive workhorse.

The 2020 rookie line (116 combined tackles in 15 games) earned him second-team All-Rookie honors. The 2022-2023 injury-plagued Carolina years (combined 93 tackles in 19 games) led the Panthers to let him walk. Two teams later, he's back to 115 combined in 2025 — almost identical to his rookie production, on his third NFL franchise.

2020 was the most disruptive rookie season for a safety in years — 116 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries (both returned for TDs).

He produced 116 tackles, a sack, an INT, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries — all as a 22-year-old rookie out of Southern Illinois (FCS). The standout single game was Week 12 vs Detroit, where his 2 scoop-and-score fumble returns on consecutive defensive plays made him the only NFL player ever with multiple defensive TDs on back-to-back snaps.

He's a true early-down defender — 75% of his career tackle work happens on 1st or 2nd down.

78.6% of his combined-tackle production comes on early downs (1st + 2nd). For a safety listed at 6'3" and 220 lbs, that's the box-safety / hybrid-LB usage profile — he plays close to the LOS in run support and gets the ball-carrier early in the snap-and-clock window.

The contrast: pure deep-safety types (Justin Simmons, Kevin Byard at their peaks) accumulate 50-55% of their tackles on 3rd-and-long, where the offense has to chase yards and the safety becomes the last line. Chinn's distribution is the opposite end of the spectrum.

Among defensive backs with 115+ combined tackles in 2025, he's one of only 10.

Top 10 among defensive backs across the last two seasons for tackle volume. The peers are revealing: Budda Baker (2x All-Pro), Kevin Byard (2x All-Pro), Kam Curl (Bills' top safety) — the company you keep at 115+ tackles is the league's box-safety elite.

Mid-pack production in a thin position. He'll be 28 in 2026 and on his third team — his market value depends on whether Vegas asks him to stay close to the box (which he's elite at) or expand into deep-zone responsibilities (which his career data suggests he isn't).

The Panthers gave up on him at exactly the wrong moment — Carolina spent the 2024 cap savings on Diontae Johnson, who lasted 7 games.

His 2023 Carolina year (28 tackles in 9 games) was the worst statline of his career and is the reason Carolina didn't extend him. Washington signed him to a 1-year prove-it deal — and got 107 combined tackles, 7 TFLs, and 17 starts out of him at $4.5M.

The wider pattern: every time he's gotten a full healthy season (2020, 2021, 2024, 2025), the volume has been 100+. The Panthers paid for the dips and got out before the recoveries.