KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and veteran safety Juan Thornhill probably will have a chat before training camp.
McDuffie, who the Chiefs traded up for Thursday night in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, wore No. 22 at Washington, where he was a three-year starter and emerged as one of the most versatile and fluid cover corners in college.
That jersey number, which Thornhill has worn in three seasons with Kansas City since entering the NFL, has special meaning for McDuffie.
“That was my oldest brother Tyler’s number, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago,” McDuffie said.
When he was assigned the jersey number as a freshman with the Huskies, McDuffie took it as a sign he was in the right place and felt a powerful emotional connection in “keeping (Tyler’s) name alive.”
“Going to college, I never asked for the number,” McDuffie said. “I just somehow got the number and just rocked with it. I was like, ‘This is something that I’m able to share my story with, share part of my family, part of my history with the rest of the world.’”
He’d love to keep that tradition alive as he transitions to pro football.
“Moving forward, of course I’d want the number,” McDuffie said. “If I don’t get it, it’s OK. I was able to let people know about my oldest brother, about our family and that was something special to me and something that I’m always going to be able to live with at UW.”
McDuffie said he had an informal interview with Chiefs at the NFL Combine, where he met with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, but hadn’t spoken with the club beyond that.
“When I got that phone call, it was like ‘Whoa, Kansas City? This is dope,’” McDuffie said. “It was exciting when I got that phone call for sure.”
He said he appreciates the Chiefs’ aggressive style on defense and the “awesome culture” at One Arrowhead Drive.
McDuffie, an instinctual corner with the skills to excel in man or zone coverages, compared his game to former Kansas City All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu.
He said he’s a player “who is going to be able to go in and play a bunch of different positions and just help out the team however I can. That’s a big thing for me moving forward is just going in there with the mindset of ‘However I can get on the field, however I can help out this team, I’m going to do everything I can to do it.’”
McDuffie, who ran a 4.44 40-yard dash at the Combine, stands 5 feet, 11 inches with arms just shy of 30 inches.
He has considerably less length than the Chiefs historically prefer in their cornerbacks, but that didn’t stop General Manager Brett Veach from being “selectively aggressive” in pouncing on the chance to draft McDuffie after he fell out of the top 20.
“They’re hard to find,” Veach said of long, rangy, versatile and athletic cornerback prospects. “An easy thing for us is we start nit‐picking on all of these things, but you don’t want to lose sight of the talent and the player.”
McDuffie projects as a day-one starter outside at cornerback for Kansas City, according to Veach and coach Andy Reid.
