The Kansas City Chiefs May Have Found Their CB1
Trent McDuffie faced his biggest challenge of the year and passed the test with FLYING colors.
The Kansas City Chiefs ultimately came up short again vs the Cincinnati Bengals but there were still plenty of bright spots for the team as a whole. It was another one score loss to the Bengals but this one felt closer and more attainable than the others, which is some form of progress. It’s not the step you want to see out of a Super Bowl contending squad but some of the product on the field was exactly what you wanted.
Offensively the Chiefs were able to come up with answers to the Bengals’ “Drop Eight” coverage and handle their blitz packages quite well. They were able to keep the run game going on the offensive end and paired that with explosive plays over the top. Defensively the overall output wasn’t quite as good but there were still bright spots on that side of the ball as well.
In previous matchups the Chiefs really struggled to match-up with the Bengals’ wide receivers on the outside. They were giving up contested catches and explosive plays left and right but that got cleaned up this time around. Joshua Williams gave up a few bigger plays but ultimately found himself competing at all times and at no point felt like he was being targeted. Trent McDuffie - Williams’ running mate - may have been the single most impressive player on the entire field.
Trent McDuffie Breakdown
After returning from injury 5 weeks ago Trent McDuffie had been playing excellent football for the Chiefs, but outside of a few targets here and there he really hadn’t been challenged too often. Going up against the Cincinnati Bengals’ was going to be a huge test because of the size they present on the outside and their trust in their WRs to make big plays.
Winning the Catch Point
McDuffie is under 5’11” and has under 30” arms while both Jamarr Chase and Tee Higgins both clock in over 6’ and have a reputation for winning at the catch point. On paper the matchup looked to be a big challenge and as expected the Bengals’ did try to get a few jump ball opportunities.
The thing is, McDuffie is an incredibly smart player that recognizes how to win at the catch-point without actually having to win the ball. Instead of trying to compete with monsters in the air, he opted to continually take away the space on the field in which they have to operate. More impressively was that he realized that starts on the release at the line of scrimmage rather than as the receiver exists the stem of their route.
The patience, physicality, and the positioning to squeeze the sideline on both of these vertical attempts into his coverage were practically perfect coverage. Rather than risking giving up “grass” to fight for the ball vs the bigger receivers, McDuffie instead reduced the amount of space available before the ball arrive.
On the first play to Chase there is simply nowhere left for the receiver so he was able to look to make a play on the ball but it was ultimately throw too high. The second play to Higgins there was more space available for the WR on the arrival of the ball, so McDuffie doesn’t try to play the ball but instead continues to work Higgins into the sideline and ultimately out of bounds. The IQ shown on these two plays to overcome the physical mismatch was fantastic but only the beginning of his impressive performance.
Defending Vertically
The Bengals really like to push the ball vertically with their outside WRs and that puts a ton of pressure on the CBs. The Chiefs put in some nice adjustments to “cut” - have safeties drive on in-breaking routes - to one side of the field or another which allowed the CBs to play with outside leverage. It was smart and dictated a better leverage as the two-way go was removed but it still leads to a lot of isolated routes.
McDuffie once again passed this test with flying colors but did so in different ways. Throughout the game he was mixing up his technique when in man coverage on the outside. On these two examples he is showing a zone coverage stance or off-coverage look but once the snap happens he switches up his tactic. On both of these plays he is playing catch-man which the middle ground of press and off coverage.
He sets his feet just inside the "legal contact” window and just waits for the receiver to release to him. McDuffie mirrors the initial release of the WR and when the WR gets with range he catches them with his hands to control the release. The balance and patience shown at the snap paired with the physicality of the catch allows him to steer the WR into the sideline on both plays while he keeps his position over the top of the receiver.
Other times, McDuffie aligned closer to the line of scrimmage as if he was going to play press-man coverage. He would then soft-shoe (or mirror the receiver) out of his stance as they began their release. This technique is placing a lot of pressure on his ability to identify the route the WR is running but also his athleticism to to stay in-phase playing so reactionary.
He did a great job forcing the WR to declare his release before following with his hips but it’s the acceleration out of the turn that is most impressive. McDuffie is able to stay on top of these routes despite not being particularly physical during the route. This puts him in a good position to drive on any hard-breaking route as well as deter a potential throw his direction.
In-Breaking Routes
The one way the Bengals’ had some success challenging McDuffie was on in-breaking routes, specifically Slants. The Chiefs were having their safeties align shallow and to the inside of the outside receivers. They were driving on in-breaking routes from that alignment to help the CBs from having to defend the entire field. Early in the game the Bengals’ hit a Slant between McDuffie and the cutting Juan Thornhill.
Later in the game the Bengals tried a few more Slants against the Chiefs when they identified which side wasn’t being bracketed. The only time they tried McDuffie again on a Slant was against a Cover-0 blitz that was a completion. The WR ran a really good route and flattened away from McDuffie to ensure he couldn’t make a play on the football.
The good news, even in this scenario for him, was how well he closed on the receiver. Then he was able to make the tackle for a minimal gain after the catch which was paramount to this play. Given that it was Cover-0 there wasn’t another defender available to make the play if he didn’t and with the receiver being Jamarr Chase it was a tall task.
Zone Coverage
Zone coverage for a defensive back is often less sexy than man coverage but it still matters. The problem is how difficult it is to discern good zone coverage from bad zone coverage, especially when no play on the ball is being made. Thankfully Trent McDuffie makes it pretty dang easy to see how good he is in zone coverage and why. He’s been this way all year and while the ball production from these situations hasn’t come, the process is perfect.
He constantly identifies all routes that are approaching his zone in coverage and starts to leverage them out. When two routes are placed into his zone he rarely over-commits to either one; instead choosing to play the mid-point of the two routes so he can be in position to play both. It takes a great understanding of route concepts and feel on the field to do this consistently because his eyes have to constantly stay on the QB and football.
The ball production hasn’t come y et but it will. Teams will get antsy and start challenging some of these hi-lo concepts into his zone coverage and that is when plays will happen. His technique is very sound as he keeps his hips pointed upfield toward the “most dangerous" or deeper receiver. His eyes and head stay turned back to the shallow route and the football. This allows him to see if a pass is being delivered underneath so he can plant and drive on it, but also be in the proper body position if he’s challenged over the top saving valuable transition time.
Going Forward
Since Trent McDuffie has returned to the field he’s been nothing short of stellar. Rarely getting targeted, even less rarely giving up receptions, and quite simply looking the part game after game. The issue was the level of competition wasn’t the highest through that stretch. He also wasn’t challenged enough to form a rock solid opinion but that was all about to change with the Bengals’ game for better and worse.
After the game it’s time to just go ahead and talk about it, Trent McDuffie is really darn good at football. There is certainly going to be a learning curve in the future as more teams get tape on him and figure out how to attack his defencicies but it may not matter. His ability to play essentially any form of coverage, any technique, disguise his techniques, and play so technically sound in a multitude of ways is going to be really hard to pick on.
he may not be the biggest “play maker” in terms of taking the ball away during his NFL career but that shouldn’t detract from how good he can be. His IQ is going to shine high on any play whether picking up on route concepts or knowing exactly how to play the receiver in that situation, and that will always keep him ahead of the curve on the football field. Pairing that with his smooth movement ability and explosive traits, it’s hard to talk yourself out of the Chiefs finally finding their Cornerback 1.
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