The Kansas City Chiefs had two first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, trading up from No. 29 overall to No. 21 and selecting Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie and landing Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis with the No. 30 overall selection. Kansas City traded the No. 29 pick, the No. 94 pick (third round), and No. 121 pick (fourth round) with the New England Patriots to move up to No. 21 and select McDuffie.
Karlaftis finished with 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and 39 tackles in 2021. He also had 54 pressures for the Boilermakers. McDuffie didn't allow a single touchdown in 2021, even if he failed to record an interception. Opposing quarterbacks threw for just 111 yards targeting McDuffie last year, completing just 44.4% of their passes.
Here are three things to know about the Chiefs' newest cornerback and edge rusher:
Trent McDuffie
Star coverage corner
McDuffie is the best cover corner in the Pac-12 last year, as his 44.4% completion rate allowed was first in the conference. He also allowed just 0.39 yards per coverage snap, which also led the conference. Teams stayed away from throwing toward McDuffie because of his ability in coverage.
Why does he wear No. 22?
McDuffie wears No. 22 to honor his brother, who passed away six years ago. The number was his brother's number, who McDuffie wanted to "keep his name alive." The No. 22 was presented at his locker when McDuffie arrived at Washington.
Another Washington cornerback
McDuffie is the first cornerback drafted by the Chiefs in the first round since Marcus Peters, who was selected 18th overall in 2015. Peters won Defensive Rookie of the Year with Kansas City.
George Karlaftis
Pressure machine
Karlaftis had 106 pressures on 789 pass-rush snaps in his three seasons at Purdue, as his 13.4% pressure rate was fourth in the nation since the start of the 2019 season. He compiled 30.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks over his 27 games in a Purdue uniform. Karlaftis had 50-plus pressure seasons in 2019 and 2021.
Ends long Purdue drought
Karlaftis is the first Purdue defensive player drafted in the first round since Ryan Kerrigan was selected 16th overall in 2011. Kerrigan has 95.5 sacks in his 11 seasons
Water polo standout
Karlaftis was a star goalkeeper on Greece's 16-and-under national water polo team before giving football a shot when he moved to the United States at 14. He said he had to hold a chair with his shoulders out of the water, and his chest out of the water for 10 minutes straight -- which is where he credits his strong legs.
Scouting report
George Karlaftis
Strengths
- Big, well-built, powerful, athletic rusher who loves the arm-over/swim and is decently effective with it.
- Has very close to an NFL defensive end body right now and could easily get more powerful.
- Doesn't have much else in his arsenal besides the swim.
- Best way to describe his lower half is sudden, relative to his thickness. Decently bendy, too.
- Very talented, great size, high-floor prospect with decent amount of upside.
- Very young.
Weaknesses
- Bull rush could be a lot better relative to his size and girth.
- Doesn't have much else in his arsenal besides the swim.
- Feels like he should be more productive given his gifts.
- A touch up and down. Some games dominant; others nearly invisible.
Trent McDuffie
Strengths
- Zone-heavy cornerback with high-level quicks and good closing speed on the football.
- Aggressive defeating blocks at the second level.
- Tackling reliability is good but not a super-active run defender.
- Twitchy with good ball skills. Speed is great.
- The heavy-zone scheme makes it difficult to pinpoint what he does really well in man coverage.
- Versatile. Can moved into the slot with ease.
- Awareness is quality, too. Seems like a high-floor prospect but is a bit of an enigma.
Weaknesses
- The overall athletic profile is very good but not elite.
- Minimal ball production relative to how much football he played in college.
