NFL Network analyst: Chiefs’ Trent McDuffie poised to be a breakout star in 2023
Ahead of the NFL Draft in Kansas City, there was quite a bit of talk about the S2 cognition test that college players take.
According to Sports Illustrated, the test “measures the players’ ability to rapidly disseminate information that appears on the screen in front of them.”
The Athletic’s Matt Barrow wrote on how well quarterback Brock Purdy performed on the S2 test. Although Purdy was the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, he had a breakout season for the 49ers. The S2 test may have been an indication that he was poised for success, Barrow noted.
There was one player who outperformed everyone in the 2022 draft class when it came to that test: Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie.
“The highest S2 score in last year’s draft class, in fact, was turned in by a cornerback, Trent McDuffie, who started 15 games for the Chiefs, including the Super Bowl,” Barrow wrote.
McDuffie, who was taken with the 21st overall pick by the Chiefs in the 2022 draft, was injured in last year’s opener. He missed the next six games but started the final 10 regular-season contests and every playoff game.
Peter Schrager, an analyst on the NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” thinks McDuffie is poised to be one of the league’s breakout stars this season.
“Trent McDuffie was starting to put the clamps on guys as the season went on,” said Schrager, who also does work for Fox Sports. “You go down the stretch here in the playoffs, Trent McDuffie might have been the best defensive back on that Chiefs team. He was everywhere, causing problems, causing havoc.
“Going into this season, I’ve talked to the Chiefs guys all the time, like you know, who’s been the breakout player. Is it (Rashee) Rice, is it (Deneric) Prince? Talk about our guy, Trent McDuffie. That’s the guy right now because he’s one of the leaders of the defense. And in the Super Bowl, this guy stepped up in the biggest of ways. (He) was all over the field making plays.”
Schrager noted the Chiefs traded up to take McDuffie, then selected another defensive player later in the first round last year: defensive end George Karlaftis.
Both played key roles for the Chiefs down the stretch, Schrager said.
“As the season went on, Trent McDuffie got better and better and better and was all over the field in the biggest games,” Schrager said. “You look at him, also just 22 years old, Twenty-first overall pick out of Washington. Every single game that he played in, he started at corner. Trent McDuffie looking to be one of those DB No. 1s.
“And then you look right now their (Chiefs) snap leaders since Week 9 including the playoffs. Obviously it was (linebacker Nick) Bolton who’s their defensive leader in the middle there. And then you got Trent McDuffie right after him at 815. The guy plays, the guy hits, the guy covers.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2023 at 9:54 AM.
