When the Kansas City Chiefs watched the bottom half of the first round in the 2022 NFL draft go down, they knew they might have to move up to get the guy they wanted. So, they traded up with the New England Patriots for the 21st overall pick, and took Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie to help redefine their defense.
“He moves around well,” head coach Andy Reid said of McDuffie after the pick happened. “Good hips. Good hands. I like the part about being smart when you’re playing that position. Leverages become important. How you do those. Size, different-sized players… we have some big receivers that we go against. How are you going to take care of that?”
Outside of Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley, McDuffie is one of the top cornerback prospects now in the NFL. It would be a three-way tie between these top selections if it wasn’t for McDuffie’s length. He’s only 5-foot-11 and his arms are in the bottom 7th percentile among all cornerbacks (29.75 inches). Due to this lack of size, there is a good chance that the Chiefs may start him out at the nickel corner position to see how adjusts to the NFL.
Let’s go to the film and examine how his skillsets can contribute to the Chiefs defense.