Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie had a legitimate case to be named Most Valuable Player in his team's Super Bowl LVIII win over the San Francisco 49ers. McDuffie, the second-year man from Washington, broke up a big throw from Brock Purdy to Deebo Samuel in the end zone at the start of the second quarter, which resulted in a Jake Moody field goal on the next play. And with 2:00 left in regulation, McDuffie's deflection of a Purdy pass to Jauan Jennings forced the 49ers to kick yet another field goal.
Trent McDuffie of the @Chiefs had 12 pass breakups from the slot last season, and no defensive back had more slot snaps in 2023. This might have been the most important play any slot defender made last season. pic.twitter.com/Xd2MutEMAg
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 5, 2024
Trent McDuffie was great all season as a slot defender, but he saved his best for the Super Bowl. Clampdown coverage, and a highly impactful blitz on third-and-5 with 2:00 left in regulation. pic.twitter.com/NcTP27KZdc
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 5, 2024
Now, with L'Jarius Sneed off the Tennessee Titans in a trade, the plan seems to be for McDuffie to play more outside cornerback in the 2024 season.
“We’ll see," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said in May. "I don’t think anybody is going to replace LJ (L’Jarius) Sneed. I thought LJ had a remarkable year in everything that he did. There are some shoes there to fill, whether we do it with one person or two people or shift guys around, we’ll see. We have a long way to go to figure that out. We have guys that aren’t out there yet, NJ (Nazeeh Johnson), Jaylen (Watson) so that’s one thing, we have to be concerned with.”
If McDuffie plays outside more than the 29% of his snaps he did in the 2023 season, that could be an adjustment. Overall last season, McDuffie allowed 57 catches on 97 targets for 637 yards, 267 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, no interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 95.5.
But as an outside cornerback, McDuffie allowed 12 receptions on 20 targets, and several big plays. As efficiently aggressive as McDuffie was as an inside defender, that didn't always work when he was closer to the boundary.
The @Chiefs may have plans to move Trent McDuffie to more of an outside role. Makes me wonder, because McDuffie was the NFL's best slot defender in 2023, and McDuffie has some issues when defending closer to the boundary. pic.twitter.com/QnxDdkwcKi
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 20, 2024
McDuffie is a great player, but could the Chiefs be risking a debit to their defense by putting him in the wrong place too often? We can but wait and see.
