Inside The Huskies

UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: McDuffie Raises the Bar High for Husky CBs

The junior cornerback could be in line for an unmatched draft position, rare secondary honors.

Dan Raley

Trent McDuffie is all about standards, determined to set examples for others to follow, a big believer in providing strong leadership that makes a difference.

In the recently concluded University of Washington spring football practice, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound junior cornerback had one such heartfelt exchange with an impressionable younger teammate who apparently needed guidance. It was a thoughtful gesture, mentorship you just don't forget.

In a non-contact drill, McDuffie spotted running back Jay'Veon Sunday showing off and high-stepping his way to the end zone, rushed over at a sharp angle and delivered a well-placed forearm, leaving the excitable redshirt freshman from Texas splattered all over the artificial surface.

Asked about this later on, McDuffie, with a straight face, offered the following explanation, "He's a young dude out here so we try to bring him to that next level. Show him how U-Dub football is. Set the standard for him for what it's like to play on this team."

Message delivered and received.

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

McDuffie, who hails from Westminster, California, doesn't waver from doing things right and it's an approach that works for him. Entering the third season of his Husky career, he's on the verge of becoming an unforgettable presence while moving into unchartered territory.

Pro Football Focus has predicted that McDuffie will become the 16th player taken overall in the next NFL draft. If true, that will make him the highest-selected cornerback in UW history, chosen ahead of Dana Hall (18th pick, 1992), Marcus Peters (18th pick, 2015) and Desmond Trufant (22nd pick, 2013).

This is just the strongest sign yet that McDuffie is beginning to generate a national following wise to his development, something that's been slow in coming, for whatever reason.

While he's been honored as a second-team All-Pac-12 selection, the college football analysts who compile the various All-America listings are just starting to catch on to him.

Only two UW defensive backs have received first-team Associated Press All-America attention, considered the ultimate reward among these sort of listings — cornerback Calvin Jones in 1972 and safety Al Worley in 1968. Worley had to intercept an NCAA-record 14 passes in a season to get there.

In coach Jimmy Lake's estimation, McDuffie already has exceeded the efforts of the most recent Husky cornerback standard-bearers, 2016 starters Kevin King and Sidney Jones, both in the NFL now.

"In a lot of ways, he's ahead of all those corners who played back then in 2016," Lake said. "He's played at a higher level, really, since he's been on campus."

With three UW seasons of eligibility remaining if he wants because of the pandemic, an amount that seems unlikely to be utilized considering his football maturation, McDuffie either way has a chance to become the most decorated Husky cornerback in program annals.

Again, he could become the highest drafted corner and a rare All-America pick from the Husky secondary. He's been a UW starter since the third game of his freshman season, when he opened against Hawaii. He's hasn't left the lineup since, pulling 15 consecutive, game-opening assignments.

Just wondering: Why didn't he start the first two UW outings that season?

McDuffie has a dozen or so games ahead of him to set newer, much loftier, Husky secondary standards that would be recognized every day of the year. 

Not just on Sunday.

McDuffie's 2021 Outlook: Projected cornerback starter

UW Service Time: Played in 17 games, started 15

Stats: 59 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 2 interceptions, 4 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries; 3 punt returns for 56 yards

Individual Honors: Second-team All-Pac-12

Pro prospects: 2022 NFL first-round draft pick

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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