ArrowheadOne “High Expectations” Player Focus: CB Trent McDuffie

McDuffie – St Joseph News-Press image credit

In the 2022 Draft, Brett Veach and Co. watched the draft board. They had their list of players on the Chiefs Board and the way the draft fell, Trent McDuffie, one of their targets was available and within reach of being pick should the decision be made to move up to pick 21 to select him. Remember, Brett Veach stated that he didn’t expect there to be a monster trade to move up to a high spot in the draft. Instead, he described what happened as the picks went up on the board. “We wanted to be selectively aggressive. We went through a few different game plans and what we thought was what made sense for us, in regards to adding to hat defense, is that we could make a small move. We talked about that game plan on Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we were calling the Eagles at 18, the Saints at 19, 20 with the Steelers, 21 to New England, 22 with the Packers, and so on. We started at 18. We really wanted to not have to do anything with 50 or 62. We did have two 3s and two 4s, so let’s look at those combinations and see where those get us. We wanted to address the corner position. We thought there were teams like Tennessee and Buffalo that would go corner. We thought the d-end group, the numbers played in our favor. So if we waited until 30, we just felt there were numbers before and after that first round that would help us. Whereas corners, during our process, we had a couple of guys and we felt it would be iffy if they fell to 29.  So we were committed to moving up to corner the whole time. We had dialogue with all the teams. We ended up staying on 19 because we wanted to keep 62. Then the Eagles made the trade, which kind of opened a door for us because I think they may have gone corner. Then with New England, we doubled back with our conversation and executed that. But it was corner the whole time for us…I think that prompted Buffalo’s move because they moved up two to get the next corner. If we had stayed, I think both McDuffie and [Kaiir] Elam were gone, so that was a strategy that worked out in our favor.”

From this we can garner the fact that the Chiefs were pointed at both McDuffie and Elam but as it turned out, they valued McDuffie more than Elam. The above scenario laid out by Brett Veach tells us a lot about who they were pointing to with the first pick in the draft(#29) and also about #30(which is where they selected George Karlaftis. Note that he felt that they would be safe to wait to pick 30 for a DE?

McDuffie and the Numbers Game

To see where Trent ended up via RAS, take a look at this chart:

Big Blue View image credit – Chart from RAS

McDuffie at 5’10 3/4″ was viewed as the negative. The weight and composite were acceptable. Looking at the other measurables, the thing that stands out is that his Composite Speed Grade was ‘Great’. McDuffie has the speed that measures up with a 4.44-40. That tells me he fits for an outside CB role which is where I think his position will be and due to the turnover of personnel, that will be one of the outside starting CBs for the Chiefs opening day. I did have him on my “to draft” list but I did not see him as being a round 1 pick. This came about because of length and arm length. All the other boxes were checked for me. It turns out that the Scouting staff, Brett Veach and the coaching staff had come to the conclusion that McDuffie was a round 1 pick. They didn’t think he would fall to the Chiefs, hence they had to decide to trade up to select him when he lasted to pick 21. The rest of that story is known.

McDuffies other metrics show:

Trent McDuffie NFL Draft Profile

  • Position: Cornerback
  • School: Washington
  • Current Year: Junior
  • Height: 5’10 3/4″
  • Weight: 193 pounds
  • Wingspan: 72 3/8″
  • Arm: 29 3/4″
  • Hand: 8 3/4″

Other Metrics:

  • 40-Yard Dash: 4.44
  • Bench Press: 15
  • Broad Jump: 10′ 8″
  • Vertical Jump: 38.5″

For me the Arm Length was a drawback and also his height but he is a young player, entering his Jr. Year and very possibly still growing. He attended Washington and that is not “DubU” but it is a quality football environment. McDuffie himself commented that during his time, the Huskies did not lose to Washington St. Most attribute the development of Huskie DBs to Will Harris who coached him for two seasons. Harris was also responsible for coaching Kyler Gordon who was drafted by the Bears. Jimmy Lake, former HC at UDUB played a role in developing players like Peters(with whom KC is familiar). Like others before him, according to PFN, McDuffie was severely underrated to this point and has the traits to ascend. Viewing this from the Chiefs frame of reference is that he had a solid floor for entering the NFL and a high ceiling.

One thing, aside from speed that is not measurable by the tools used is explosiveness. McDuffie has that trait to add to the metrics. McDuffie moves with a great amount of explosiveness. Hyperbole aside, McDuffie is a high tier player athletically, a player who has quickness that is noticeable from the point in time he reads the play in multiple phases of the CB role. He is hard charging to the LoS and backfield on run games. His elite explosiveness is visible in support of the run game. He has the Twitchiness that allows him to quickly react to receiver moves and the bursts of speed necessary for sticking with the route being run. That speed and explosiveness plus his ability to sink and change directions provide him the ability to close to the point of catch and handle double-moves effectively. Besides the speed and twitchiness, McDuffie utilizes his atheticism with precision. He is a physical player to boot. That fits the Chiefs profile of athleticism, speed and physicality to a “T”.

According to PFF, Trent McDuffie excelled at the NCAA Level: “among draft-eligible cornerbacks he had the lowest yards per coverage snap allowed (0.6) according to PFF. He knows his opponents and their tendencies extremely well and as a result, he’s able to limit what they’re capable of doing on the field.”

McDuffie is a student of the game and is top-drawer in preparation. He said: “I love studying film. I love watching guys all over the league, past, present. I spend a lot of energy and create an organized plan to watch as many games as I can. Beginning of the season, I watch last season’s film. Going through the season, I try to get through every game and all the games from last season. So, I start at 5:30, end at about 10 o’clock at night. I watch at least four games a day. I feel that has helped me so much.”

To get a good view of McDuffie’s play at Washington, take a long look at this video, which is titled “Trent McDuffie is a True Lock Down Corner”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3U_DydLxdk

If McDuffie has weaknesses to work on, it is a short list: He needs to work on his zone coverage reads and moves. His length and size is a bit on the underside. PFN judged that this would be the only reason that Trent wouldn’t be a top 20 pick. McDuffie shows his football acumen in his own view of the game. This statement by Trent is a great self-assessment: “You like to look at where they are going to line up on the field. I’m a big situational football guy. So, what am I going to get on mixed downs, third downs, third-and-shorts, third-and-longs? All that will help me determine what the receiver is going to do, what kind of routes they like to throw. Then it also comes down to the timing of the quarterback and the receiver. A big part of DB is defending that timing. Being physical when you need to be physical, and understanding when they are going to take the vertical. So, just knowing all of that through the film-watching helped me a lot.”

This tells a lot about the Chiefs view of the player. He might be a bit “slight” due to NFL ideal player profiles, but the rest of the story is what he can do on the field. It will need to be translated to his work on zone coverages in training camp but from the a coaching viewpoint: Trent is like a sponge ini accumulating technique and football knowledge. I doubt that Dave Merritt will have problems working with McDuffie. All that remains to be seen is how quickly McDuffie escalates his growth to accommodate NFL Talent level and game speed. From what we heard during the OTAs and the minicamp, McDuffie is an immediate fit as a starting CB for the Chiefs. If I were to judge that the Chiefs are missing the right coaching for McDuffie and other DBs, Sam Madison’s departure will be missed but I have great faith in Dave Merritt. Donald D’Alesio is now the coach for the safeties and I don’t know much about his coaching prowess. Madison was a great compliment to Merritt and hopefully D’Alesio will be as well.

McDuffie – shutterstock image credit

If I am not providing enough information to get you to have an enthusiastic view of Trent McDuffie, I will add Daniel Harms session on Trent at RGR: “The Chiefs stole CB Trent McDuffie in the NFL Draft- NFL Film Room”. I greatly value Dan Harms and his view of NFL football. See the RGR Session on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaPtYwbTOhw

Ian Cummings, draft analyst for PFN had this final observation: “McDuffie is a shutdown corner who has shown tremendous potential as well as progress in his game. He offers ability backed off the line of scrimmage or in man coverage and only needs to get a little stronger. Nevertheless, he should be starting early in his NFL career.”

When you examine the game stats, McDuffie ascended each year he was at Washington, with his best season being 2021. I’d say that the odds are very good that Trent McDuffie will excel as a Chief. True, the early season is going to be a hard test for McDuffie. The Chiefs schedule is a rough one in which KC faces top opponents who were 2021 contenders. I want to see him with the pads on in camp and in preseason games, playing against top NFL talent. That is where the rubber meets the road. As for myself? I am now sold on Trent McDuffie. True, we lost a solid CB when Charvarius Ward departed in free agency. I think we will end up with a far better defender in the end result.

David Bell – ArrowheadOne

*Correction at 1:12 PM