Chicago Bears: 5 strong NFL Draft prospects team has met with

Safety Jeremy Chinn, Southern Illinois

One prospect who is climbing up the ladder in terms of Bears prospects is safety Jeremy Chinn out of Southern Illinois. There has been a lot more buzz about him recently, after not much before the Combine.

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Chinn is yet another player the Bears have met with, per NBC Sports.

If you’re looking for the ideal strong safety of the future for Chicago, Chinn is your guy. For starters, he is 6-foot-3 and weighs 221 pounds. At that size, he ran his 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds. To put that in perspective, it was just a shade faster than Jeff Okudah.

Chinn is an athletic monster. His vertical is a ridiculous 41.0 inches, while his broad jump at the Combine was measured at 138.0 inches.

This is a physical, strong safety who can make the athletic plays when asked to. But, first and foremost, he is the box safety the Bears need. He’s great when active near the front seven.

Not only is Chinn a strong closer near the box, but he also has above average coverage skills and excellent ball skills. Because he played at a smaller school, Chinn hasn’t gotten the notoriety he deserves. If he was placed on a defense like the Bears, Chinn could become an instant impact player from Day 1.

In his four seasons with Southern Illinois, Chinn played in 38 games and totaled 243 tackles, 31 passes defended, 13 interceptions, and six forced fumbles.