The Kansas City Chiefs land a new cornerback at pick No. 32 in Touchdown Wire’s latest mock draft. Cornerback has been one of the most popular picks for the Chiefs because it’s one of the most blatant needs on the team.
Players from the 2019 Super Bowl team have seemingly moved on and the team will have to do the same. Kendall Fuller rejoined Washington in free agency and Bashaud Breeland remains a free agent. The group is depleted of proven depth beyond two players set to start in Charvarius Ward and Rashad Fenton.
With that in mind, this time around, Mark Schofield sent Alabama CB Trevon Diggs to Kansas City. Here is a bit of what he had to write about the selection:
“Trevon Diggs, the Alabama cornerback, would be an ideal selection for the Chiefs, and his ability to step in and be a press-coverage corner, coupled with his experience in a diversified coverage scheme under Nick Saban, makes him a likely Week 1 starter in the NFL. Pro Football Focus charted him with allowing a completion rate of just 42.3 percent, and he forced incompletions over 20 percent of the times he was targeted.“
There are plenty of talented cornerbacks that tend to be available in the latter half of the first round and many of those players were gone by this point. CJ Henderson, Kristian Fulton and Jeff Gladney all were selected before the Chiefs came on the clock. Diggs seems to be the best remaining cornerback of the bunch.
At his 6-2 207-pound size, Diggs projects well as a press-man corner, but he’s done a bit of everything in the Alabama defense. I find his physicality in press coverage to be surprisingly lackluster, but I’m really impressed with his recovery and ability to defend the ball once it is in the air. Where Diggs seems to shine is playing zone coverage and picking up routes downfield, which is something that Schofield highlighted.
In his first season as a starter, Diggs broke his foot six games into the season. Prior to the injury, Diggs put up one of his best performances against a talented Ole Miss Rebels receiving corp. He lined up against successful pro players like D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown, shutting them down for the entire game.
Still, I can’t help from wondering if the stigma surrounding Alabama cornerbacks will impact the Chiefs’ decision here. Yes, you’re supposed to scout the player and not the helmet. Kansas City was burnt by the Alabama allure once before, selecting Javier Arenas in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft.