Jeremy Chinn outplaying Isaiah Simmons and other rookie surprises

Sep 20, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard (80) is tackled by Carolina Panthers defensive back Jeremy Chinn (21) and cornerback Corn Elder (29) during the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 20, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard (80) is tackled by Carolina Panthers defensive back Jeremy Chinn (21) and cornerback Corn Elder (29) during the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jeremy Chinn, Carolina Panthers
Sep 20, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard (80) is tackled by Carolina Panthers defensive back Jeremy Chinn (21) and cornerback Corn Elder (29) during the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Jeremy Chinn outplaying Isaiah Simmons leads 2020 rookie surprises so far.

The NFL is always full of surprises, but who saw Jeremy Chinn outplaying Isaiah Simmons coming six months ago?

The 2020 rookie class has been extremely impactful in the early goings of this unprecedented NFL season, one with a very limited and shortened offseason and hardly any chance for guys to get acclimated to their new surroundings, at least when it comes to on-field work.

With no OTAs, no preseason, and plenty of teams dealing with new coaching staffs, it would have been reasonable to expect that the 2020 rookie class would be slow to make an impact early in the 2020 season, but that hasn’t been the case.

The 2020 NFL Draft class was loaded with talent at a wide variety of positions, but it’s still surprising to see certain players who were high draft picks getting outplayed by guys at the same position who were selected later this early on.

Every player adapts differently, and context certainly matters.

In addition to the Chinn vs. Simmons situation, there have been a number of surprising developments around the league so far with this rookie class.

Let’s take a look through a few of them.