KC Chiefs 7-round mock draft: Fixing Kansas City’s defense
By Evan Mead
7.240: Decobie Durant, CB, South Carolina State
Decobie Durant is a Senior Bowl prospect who’s working on trying to make a name for himself as a potential NFL cornerback. How will he translate to the league, unclear as of right now. However, in this mock draft, I have the Kansas City Chiefs taking a flyer on the South Carolina State cornerback.
Measurables
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 174 lbs.
Hand Size: 8 5/8 inches
Arm Length: 30 1/8 inches
Wingspan: 72 inches
Strengths
Decobie Durant is a low-end prospect but that doesn’t mean much in the later rounds. In fact, you could argue that in the later rounds, that’s exactly who you should go after.
Players that maybe don’t have the edge on some of the other players in this draft are going to be willing to outwork anybody who tries to best them. That’s their mentality. They are used to being underrated but they are here to prove people wrong. Taking Durant here is in the hopes of acquiring a player similar to Chavarius Ward and/or Rashad Fenton.
If you recall, both of those names were taken in the late rounds of the draft (Ward even went undrafted), but they have been some of the best cornerbacks we’ve had. Obviously, I’m not saying that I think that Durant can become the same caliber of player, but it’s worth the risk.
Durant is a quick-footed cornerback who plays very well in off-ball coverages. With a lot of intensity and focus, he plays well when attacking the football and has shown great hands in the past. He’s been pretty reliable for South Carolina State.
On top of that, he has also shown very solid mechanics when in coverage that allows him to be a player that, with the right coaching and training, could become a very talented cornerback for the Chiefs moving forward. Now, once again, this is a mock draft and I see things some other people may not see. However, I see a player very similar to Fenton and Ward which is why I targeted him in this mock draft.
Weaknesses
There are a couple of things I noticed about Durant that need to be addressed in this article.
We’ll start with the measurables. As a cornerback, he doesn’t really have a lot to work with as far as his frame goes. Weighing in at only 174 lbs., he could get bullied in man coverage, especially at the next level. With the Chiefs being in the AFC West, Durant would be tasked with potentially covering Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, Bryan Edwards, Mike Williams, and some other names. Given his frame, that would not end well for the Chiefs.
The second thing that needs to be talked about with Durant is his physicality. Now, this is a domino effect from his frame, I’m sure. Durant, although a very solid technical cornerback, doesn’t ever play tight coverage on the receiver. He doesn’t tackle aggressively, nor does he really contest 50/50 balls against bigger receivers. Instead, he may take a different approach and try moving the receiver’s route to a different point.
I mean there’s nothing wrong with that in college, but that is a concern for me as he tries to make his dreams of being an NFL cornerback come true.
How He Fits With the Kansas City Chiefs
Similar to what I said when I wrote about Joshua Williams, the Chiefs have no depth at the cornerback position. With no money to bring Ward back, unless he were to take a huge pay-cut to stay a Chief, they will have to address the cornerback position.
Decobie Durant has similar traits as Chavarius Ward did coming out and that is what I’m hoping for from Durant. Obviously, this is a mock draft and I don’t know much about him as a person, but what I can tell you is that the upside is there. He’d likely develop as a slot cornerback first to see if he can handle that. If he can, the Chiefs may look to move Fenton or Durant to the outside.
If what his film shows is what the Chiefs could get, It’s worth the risk in my opinion. That’s why I took him here.