Jan 27, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek (left) and coach Pete Carroll at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders' New Swiss Army Knife

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Ezekiel Trezevant | Last updated Jun 7, 2025 12:30 PM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders made notable changes to their offense this offseason that have garnered most of the attention this summer. However, the addition of safety Jeremy Chinn to their defense may be an underrated move that pays off handsomely for the Silver and Black.

Following Organized Team Activities, Raiders Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham spoke about how Chinn has done so far.

"It starts off, I would say, with Jeremy [Chinn] – the leadership, I don't know if you guys got a chance to talk to him, but just in terms of his leadership, he's very sure of himself, because he puts in the work. Self-confidence comes from preparation; it's not a self-esteem thing or self-talk thing," Graham said.

"When you're prepared, you're really, really confident. That's what I see from him. And he's been a sponge in terms of learning how we want to do things, and then all the physical attributes, but all 32 teams know about that. The speed, the size, physicality, ability to tackle, nose for the ball. So, I mean, it's all been positive there."

The veteran safety graciously accepted the compliment from his coach, but also noted the hard work that goes into showing up prepared every day. The Raiders will need Chinn's veteran leadership in a defensive backfield that enters the season with many questions.

"I appreciate that. But I mean, I think you are what you do. How you do anything is how you do everything. So, anything is definitely a huge part of anything you do in life, but football specifically, just the workload that goes into it physically and mentally,” Chinn said. “It's not something you just show up and take care of business. So there's a lot of preparation that goes into it, and I take a lot of pride in that," Chinn said.

Chinn's ability to play in several different spots on the defense will be pivotal for the Raiders this upcoming season. Graham's ability to use Chinn in multiple ways will be a critical component for Las Vegas. It was a large part of the reason the Raiders signed him in the offseason.

"I think it started really early on in my career, my rookie season. Just being in a situation where I was asked to do a lot of certain things and just kind of made my mindset like, this is the life of the NFL, like there's going to be a lot of different roles, a lot of different roles, a lot of different responsibilities. So I just kind of took that and road with it for the rest of my career," Chinn said.

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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