With an already spectacular profession resume, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie enters his third season within the NFL with a brand new problem to himself: getting into the position of the workforce’s No. 1 cornerback.
The offseason commerce of former Chiefs nook L’Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans left a major hole within the workforce’s secondary. With the necessity for somebody to shadow the opposing workforce’s greatest large receiver, McDuffie is assured he’s the proper particular person for the job.
“I imply, I advised [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] wherever he wants me – like I all the time stated, ‘That’s the place you possibly can put me,’” McDuffie shared after Monday’s follow. “I’m going towards one of the best of one of the best. That’s why we play this recreation, to go towards one of the best of one of the best. With the ability to compete, irrespective of who it’s towards, I’m prepared to do this.”
Final season, McDuffie primarily served because the Chiefs’ slot nook, incomes First-Workforce All-Professional honors. Whereas NFL offenses have grown accustomed to transferring their large receivers everywhere in the formation, they usually depend on their greatest gamers to beat one-on-one protection on the skin. Sneed took on this duty final season, however now, with McDuffie transitioning to that position, he acknowledges the challenges forward.
“Final 12 months was actually my first time on the nickel place,” McDuffie defined. “Then this 12 months, with LJ leaving, transferring to the skin can be a unique ball recreation. Inside, you realize you bought assist right here and there, so you are able to do issues slightly in another way. On the skin, if you’re on an island, you bought to be a technician. Coming into this camp realizing that I may need to do extra of that, I’ve been engaged on my approach little by little every day and simply making an attempt to excellent myself on the market.”
No matter the place he performs, McDuffie stays one of many Chiefs’ greatest defenders. Final season, he ranked first on the workforce in pressured fumbles (5), second in whole tackles (80) and passes defended (7), and fourth in quarterback pressures (14). Whereas staying within the slot performed to McDuffie’s strengths by permitting him to get after the quarterback, he in the end credited his success to his general data of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s system.
“It comes again to realizing your duty on each play,” McDuffie famous. “Coach (Steve Spagnuolo) has a whole lot of performs in, and we do a whole lot of various things. You is usually a Cowl 3 nook, a Cowl 2 nook, a Cowl 4. I imply we now have all of the coverages, so simply realizing the place your leverage is and realizing the place you’re assistance is — and on the finish of the day, Coach Spags talks about it on a regular basis, it’s simply disrupting the routes. Get your palms on the receivers, and messing up that timing is one of the best factor a nook can do on this protection.”
Regardless of all of his success, McDuffie’s one obtrusive stat is his zero interceptions over the primary two years of his profession. He’ll want to enhance this as he steps into his new position. Nevertheless, regardless of the interception numbers, Spagnuolo stays proud of the Chiefs’ new No. 1 cornerback.
“He’s obtained a pure really feel for all of that,” Spagnulo stated of McDuffie’s recreation. “He’s ready for his first NFL interception, proper? I advised him this earlier than – you realize he obtained voted- didn’t he get voted All-Professional by his friends final 12 months? I assumed that was the hugest praise to a DB that didn’t have an interception as a result of that tells you all you should know.”
