Jeremy Chinn is the rookie playmaker that the Philadelphia Eagles needed

The Philadelphia Eagles were wrong to pass on Jeremy Chinn.

After selecting former TCU standout Jalen Reagor in the first-round, the Philadelphia Eagles were reportedly torn between three players with their 53rd overall pick. Running back JK Dobbins, safety Jeremy Chinn, and of course quarterback Jalen Hurts. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz (who has been known to have some serious pull when it comes to roster decisions) banged the table hard for Chinn, but Howie Roseman ultimately had the final say, and opted to snag a backup QB with the team’s second-round pick.

That decision looked really bad at the time, and it looks even worse now. While the Eagles coaching staff still attempts to figure out ways to simply get Hurts onto the field, Chinn has made a name for himself as one of the more exciting young safeties in all of football.

Through his first six NFL games with the Carolina Panthers, the former Southern Illinois safety has been stuffing stat sheets left and right. He already has 49 tackles (28 solo), 3 passes defensed, 1 tackle for loss, 1 quarterback hit, and of course 1 interception (off of Nick Foles!). Chinn has quite arguably been the focal point to Carolina’s defense, and is already starting to build up a “Defensive Rookie of the Year” type resume.

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According to ESPN.com, Chinn is currently being projected to finish the 2020 season with 131 total tackles, a ridiculously high number for any defensive player. The Eagles haven’t had a safety record 100+ tackles in a single season since Malcolm Jenkins himself did it in 2015.

Chinn is also allowing just 64.7% of passes thrown his way to be completed. His opponent passer rating when targeted of 83.2 would rank as the second best on the current Philadelphia Eagles defense, trailing just Rodney McLeod (who is having an awesome season by the way). Excuse me while I get to imagining how lethal these two safeties would be lining up alongside each other.

While it’s easy to play the “what if” game when it comes to rookies and previous draft classes (DK Metcalf and Justin Jefferson for example), this one particularly stings due to the fact that Schwartz personally vouched for Chinn. Despite all the criticism that ol’ Jimbo has faced over the last couple of weeks, he runs a scheme that has proven to be successful in the past. His biggest hurdle has always been acquiring players who can run said scheme.

Chinn, an exciting hybrid safety who would be a dream fit in Schwartz’ complex system, was sitting right there for the taking. Instead, Roseman opted to take a quarterback. Considering the Philadelphia Eagles’ lack of consistent DB play the last couple of games, Schwartz should be furious.

The Eagles were able to snag their own respective rookie safety in K’Von Wallace later in the draft (who I like a lot), but it’s hard to not feel like the front office dropped the ball yet again when it came to acquiring elite talent. For as bad as the JJAW-Metcalf situation was, drafting Hurts over Chinn may end up being viewed in the same light when it’s all said and done.