2020 NFL Draft: Will Jeremy Chinn end up a first-round pick?

The 2020 NFL Draft has some fascinating talent at the safety position, and Southern Illinois’ Jeremy Chinn could wind up sneaking in the first round.

The next time you’re putting together a first-round mock draft, you might consider including Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chinn among the top 32 selections.

Chinn, a 6-foot-3, 223-pound beast of an athlete, participated in the 2020 Senior Bowl and blew up at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, and has the scouting community talking about being one of the first safeties off the board.

Despite his rare athletic traits and size, Chinn isn’t likely to be picked ahead of Alabama’s Xavier McKinney, one of the top defensive weapons in the 2020 NFL Draft in his own right. But Chinn could very well be the next one off the board, and it might be in the back half of the first round.

Even though DJ says there that Chinn is going to land in the 2nd round, if he does end up being the first safety off the board, it could easily be in the top 32 picks.

Look at his ridiculous athletic chart:

Some have thrown out a Derwin James comparison for Chinn, who excels right now in man coverage and a ‘see ball, attack ball’ mentality in the run game.

A second-team All-American in 2019, Chinn had 71 total tackles, four interceptions, three pass breakups, and two tackles for loss. In four seasons with Southern Illinois, he picked off 13 passes in total and showed off tremendous ball skills and range.

Entering the NFL, Chinn is going to be coveted by teams because of his combination of size, speed, physicality, and man cover abilities. Teams struggle to match speed defensively in today’s NFL and Chinn is the type of hybrid player at the LB/S position that teams currently need in a desperate way.

Chinn is the nephew of Denver Broncos Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater, and for teams who love Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons in this draft class, Chinn might not be a bad consolation prize.