Will Raiders deploy big nickel formation in 2025?

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 most fleet-footed receiving options, is embracing the role of chess piece in Las Vegas.

“I think it started really early on in my career, my rookie season,” Chinn said when asked about his versatility and how he handles it. “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.”

But he isn’t alone in the versatility department, though.

Pola-Mao has spent ample time being deployed in a similar manner as he’s played at the line of scrimmage in the slot, a de facto linebacker, and deep cover man, too. Johnson, who signed a one-year, $1.685 million deal, is a cornerback-turned-safety who offers position versatility, as well. Thus it made sense to see that trio on the field in the big nickel.

There’s also Thomas Harper, a second-year undrafted free agent, brings similar skillset — albeit at a much smaller frame than his counterparts — as a safety with slot cornerback potential, too. The 24-year-old stands 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds but was a hybrid at Notre Dame working as both a safety and slot corner due to his instincts and aggressiveness (despite being smaller).

In comparison, the trio of Chinn, Pola-Mao, and Johnson put the “big” in big nickel at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, and 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds, respectively.

The Raiders also have Chris Smith II and Trey Taylor in the safety room, both were late-round picks by the former regimes. Smith arrived as a fifth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft while Taylor was the seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft. And if the group follows through on Carroll’s compete mantra, the group should shape itself out and bring the best out of one another.

But it’s no surprise to hear Graham speak on the leadership Chinn has brought to the Raiders secondary. At age 27 and heading into his sixth year in the NFL, he’s the second oldest and second-most experienced safety only behind Johnson (who is 29 and heading into Year 7).

“It starts off, I would say, with Jeremy — 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,” Graham noted. “Self-confidence comes from preparation; it’s not a self-esteem thing or self-talk thing. 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.”

As a 17-game starter in 2024 for the Washington Commanders, Chinn logged 1,021 snaps (94 percent of the team’s total defensive snaps) and racked up 117 total tackles, two sacks, one interception, five pass breakups, one forced fumble while recovering two fumbles. He also logged 179 special teams snaps showcasing his willingness to help the team in a variety of ways.

Like Graham, Pola-Mao is appreciative of what Chinn brings to the table and is eager to see if the progress made this offseason results in prime production this coming season.

“Yeah, Chinn is a funny guy, man. When his helmet comes on, he kind of flips that switch, like he goes in that mode where he’s locked in,” Pola-Mao said. “So having him on the field, it kind of puts me at ease, because I know he’s locked in, and he knows what he’s doing. It just puts me at ease, like I said, and we can play faster.”