The Carolina Panthers will have a lot of holes on their defense in 2020, and when they traded up to draft Southern Illinois' Jeremy Chinn in the second round of the NFL Draft in April, they were hoping to fill multiple defensive holes with his abilities.
Listed as a safety, Chinn can play much more than that on defense.
When asked what position he plays, Chinn keeps it simple.
"I tell them defensive athlete," he told reporters on Wednesday.
At Southern Illinois, Chinn played safety, nickel and dime and that's the versatility Carolina is hoping to get from him in the NFL.
"I'm doing those similar things here," Chinn said. "Coach (Phil) Snow has me learning a lot more things inside the box, with the back end as well. Really everything I did in school, but being expanded.”
One thing is different than school, though, and that's additional resources.
The biggest resource Chinn has used is not just the expanded facilities and weights room, but a Panthers great that just retired.
"I come in and get to see Luke Kuechly every single day and talk to him," Chinn said. "Those are just the types of things I didn’t have at Southern.”
Kuechly was hired by the team as a Pro-Scout this summer after hanging it up in January and it seems like Chinn has taken advantage of him still being in the building.
“We just talk football, talk about our bodies," Chinn said. "I ask him how he maintained his weight or how he felt during his rookie year or throughout his career and things like that. Just any little thing I can take from him and just take it from his brain and put it in mine.”
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound rookie will need to learn everything he can with such a shortened offseason.
"Just being in this situation and being in this situation, there is something I can learn every day," Chinn said. "I'm doing a lot of things I did in college but I'm also doing a whole lot more."
It'll be an adjustment for Chinn to adjust to the NFL, but he's making sure he's ready to prove his worth when he steps on the field.
"I'm ready for this moment. It's all that I've dreamt about my entire life," Chinn said. ""I'm excited to be in Charlotte and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. The biggest difference from now in college is there's nobody making sure I'm at home or eating or anything like that. It's an adjustment but there's nowhere else I'd rather be or doing."