It’s no coincidence that the Kansas City Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls in the two seasons that Trent McDuffie has been on the roster.

While the cornerback hasn’t received the recognition and praise that his superstar teammates Chris Jones, Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes—all ranked in the top-10 of the latest NFL 100 list—have been showered with, McDuffie has been a pivotal piece of the team’s defense during his short NFL tenure.

Kansas City’s decision to trade up for McDuffie in the 2022 draft has been one of general manager Brett Veach’s best moves. While Kansas City had to give up No. 29, No. 94 and No. 121 to get the No. 21 selection that year, it was well worth it for a player who emerged as an All-Pro in just his second professional campaign.

McDuffie has started all 27 games he’s been available for, tallying 124 tackles, 14 pass defenses, six forced fumbles and four sacks in that span. He’s yet to record a single NFL interception, but McDuffie has only faced 127 targets—allowing just 77 completions for 777 yards and five touchdowns—despite lining up against plenty of elite wideouts.

Steve Spagnuolo, Kansas City’s venerable defensive coordinator, recently acknowledged McDuffie’s incredible talent in a training camp interview with ESPN’s Adam Teicher.

“[Being selected All-Pro] was the [biggest] compliment to a defensive back that did not have an interception because that tells you all you need to know,” Spagnuolo said, “He does a lot of things really [well] and I’ll guarantee you he’s got his eyeballs on trying to get a couple of picks this year.”

McDuffie will need to raise his game even further in 2024 following the departure of L’Jarius Sneed.

The Chiefs likely felt comfortable moving on from Sneed—the team’s No. 1 corner prior to being dealt to the Tennessee Titans this offseason—due to the impressive development of McDuffie. While he’s a tad undersized at 5’11”, 193 pounds, McDuffie has proven more than capable of taking on any assignment.

If McDuffie continues to play at the same level without
Sneed to help take the heat off and the Chiefs go on to win an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl,
it would be almost criminal to keep the star defensive back out of the NFL Top 100.