Silver And Black Pride
Presence of Jeremy Chinn, Isaiah Pola-Mao, Lonnie Johnson Jr. makes three-safety alignment possible in Las Vegas
Both head coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham are quite familiar with the “big nickel” formation. Thus, it’s only natural to be curious if the Las Vegas Raiders will deploy more three-safety alignments looks on defense this coming season.
Especially when you dive into the Silver & Black’s additions, retention, and subtractions this offseason.
Gone are former starters Tre’Von Moehrig and Marcus Epps — the duo signed free-agent deals with the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots, respectively. Raiders general manager John Spytek, didn’t sit on his laurels, however, as he took input from Carroll and the coaching staff and re-signed Isaiah Pola-Mao while adding Jeremy Chinn and Lonnie Johnson Jr. via free agency to supplement the safety group.
As Las Vegas’ defensive play caller since joining the team in 2022 as part of Josh McDaniels’ coaching staff, Graham deploys the big nickel to take advantage of matchups and create confusion for the opposing offense. In that alignment, a traditional safety slides down into the slot — which is normally reserved for the nickel cornerback.
With Carroll as head honcho and being a hands-on type with defensive backs, expect the Raiders defense to not only be aggressive and opportunistic, but versatile in how they operate.
“I’ve never had a head coach really hands on with the DBs, so it’s different for me. But I love it. And at the same time, Pete’s legendary,” Pola-Mao, who signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract extensions with the team back in February, said of the Raiders new head coach. Learning from him, he’s seen it and he’s done it, so he knows what it’s supposed to look like. I’m just learning, listening and trying to take it all in.”
Chinn’s arrival (inked to a two-year, $16.258 million contract with $12.25 million guaranteed at signing) to the desert plays well into a three-safety look as he’s a versatile safety who can play at or near the line of scrimmage, off coverage, or even as the deep center fielder.
According to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden, the Raiders dabbled in the a three-safety alignment at OTAs and mandatory minicamp. This saw Chinn man the slot while Pola-Mao and Johnson served as the back end defenders.
This is a prudent move by the Raiders coaching staff.
The big nickel formation ensures Las Vegas maximizes the return on investments in the coin spent at the safety group and makes opposing offenses devise ways to counteract what’s presented to them. Having players with size and speed in the form of Chinn and Pola-Mao in the slot gives Graham the opportunity to activate them as blitzers to rush the quarterback or help stymie the run. Also, the Raiders lack ideal depth at the nickel cornerback position, thus being flexible in alignments helps with that.
Chinn, who has the ability to hit line a linebacker but has the speed to maintain with even the...
