While Still Thankful, Trent McDuffie Puts Second All-Pro Nod Into Perspective

Trent McDuffie added to his already impressive resume by making another All-Pro team, but the Chiefs' star CB has other things on his mind.

Feb 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie (22) during a press conference before Super Bowl LVIII at Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

When the Kansas City Chiefs decided to part ways with cornerback L'Jarius Sneed last offseason, they effectively placed all of their eggs in the Trent McDuffie basket. Losing someone who played at an All-Pro level only made sense if there was a literal All-Pro ready to replace him, after all.

Luckily for the back-to-back Super Bowl champions, their former first-round pick justified their decision and then some. As Sneed's play declined with the Tennessee Titans, McDuffie helped keep things afloat alongside a rotating cast of players at the second, third and sometimes even fourth cornerback spots in Kansas City. He got rewarded with another All-Pro berth, albeit a nod on the second team thanks to elite contributions from Patrick Surtain II (Denver Broncos) and Derek Stingley Jr. (Houston Texans).

Normally, earning such a distinguished honor would be a massive cause for celebration. McDuffie's approach, however, is more nuanced. While he's appreciative of the respect from AP voters, he's locked in on maintaining this standard of play in the postseason.

"It's cool, you know what I mean?" McDuffie said. "I'm not really someone to hang my head or come into the season wanting all of these personal goals. Anytime I get them, I always say I'm thankful and everybody that got it, I think they definitely should've got it. Really, my goals and my focus is really more on the team and what we can do there. Great that I got it, but moving forward."

Considering the jump in matchup difficulty and the circumstances around him, McDuffie's third season (to this point) may have been his best. In 16 regular-season outings, he set new personal highs with 13 passes broken up, two interceptions and a respectable 82.9 passer rating when targeted in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the No. 9-graded coverage cornerback out of 223 players. That's in addition to a No. 7 ranking in pass rush grade and occupying the 18th spot in run defense. McDuffie set a career-best with six tackles for loss from Weeks 1-17.

All of that was while soaring to new heights in terms of alignment on the outside. McDuffie logged 765 of his coverage snaps on the boundary after hitting exactly 300 last year. His slot reps dropped from 448 to 149. A caveat to that, and one that could come to the Chiefs' aid in the postseason, is he averaged just under 15 nickel snaps per game in games against the Cleveland Browns, Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers to close out the year.

It remains to be seen what that exact split will be with Nico Collins on the other side of the field on Saturday, but McDuffie's versatility remains a wild card Kansas City can play at just about any time. Jaylen Watson's anticipated return will only present defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo with more possibilities.

Everything in the secondary starts and ends, though, with the All-Pro who's more focused on winning his third Super Bowl in a row than adding to his resume.

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