KC Chiefs choose to baptize rookie cornerbacks by fire

The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t easing their rookie cornerbacks into the game. Instead, they’re baptizing the first-year players by fire.

One of the most oft-quoted maxims about first-year players in the National Football League is that their rookie season is actually not all that important. Instead, the saying says, every general manager is actually drafting with the next year in mind. Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach clearly isn’t listening.

The mantra about first-year players exists because, for most freshmen at the professional level, the learning curve is simply too great. From the speed of the game, the mental weight of the playbook, the lack of on-campus hand-holding, the competitive demands, the rigors of such a long, grueling season, and more, there are numerous reasons why NFL rookies often need considerable time to find their footing.

For the Chiefs, a franchise that ushered 10 new draft picks into the league this year, those rules do not apply. For reasons completely known only to those inside Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs eschewed any casual on-ramp into professional life for the sake of immediate playing time. For many of the team’s prospects, especially those in the secondary, it’s been baptism by fire.

The baptism was planned

Given the Chiefs’ offseason strategy on display in free agency and the draft, it was clear that the front office didn’t like what they saw when looking at the secondary last season.

Among cornerbacks, the Chiefs allowed Charvarius Ward to take sacks of money from the San Francisco 49ers. They also watched Mike Hughes and Deandre Baker leave in free agency. From there, the safety position was gutted, leaving only Juan Thornhill standing after letting Tyrann Mathieu, Armani Watts, and Daniel Sorensen all leave in free agency.

From there, the Chiefs underwent a youth movement that included a first-round pick on cornerback Trent McDuffie and a second-round pick on safety Bryan Cook. Small-school corner Joshua Williams was added in the fourth round and the team bolstered the unit even further with two seventh-round selections in cornerback Jaylen Watson and the versatile Nazeeh Johnson.

The Chiefs did add some veterans, and it’s important to note their contributions to the mix as well. It’s not completely Lord of the Flies in the secondary these days, and the Chiefs should be thankful for the work of Justin Reid and Deon Bush. That said, the minimal moves in free agency on defense pointed to a plan that was going to allow the kids to play all along.

The baptism in progress

From the first few days of the preseason, it was clear that McDuffie was going to play a central role in the secondary. He was a starting boundary corner through the preseason and even into Week 1. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury took him out in the team’s opening win over the Arizona Cardinals and he’s remained out ever since (although there are hopes he can return against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7).

In the wake of McDuffie’s exit, even then, the Chiefs failed to add a veteran to crowd the mix. It just created even more dependence upon the kids than ever before.

Jaylen Watson has been a nice surprise to the team so far as a seventh-round pick turned full-time starter outside. His pick-six of Justin Herbert in Week 2 literally won the game for the Chiefs and made him an instant hero. The ongoing experiment hasn’t always been so positive, but Watson has shown why the Chiefs saw potential in him and he’s played well enough to maintain reps even as others get healthy.

Speaking of health, the Chiefs have endured further issues in the secondary as the season has gone along, which means just as Cook was gaining ground as the third safety with more reps in recent weeks, he was just placed in the team’s concussion protocol and was forced to miss Week 6. So was veteran cornerback Rashad Fenton, which left the Chiefs ultra-thin heading into a big week against the Buffalo Bills.

In the most anticipated regular-season game of the year—not just for the teams involved but for the entire league—the Chiefs came in with one injury after another in the secondary. That forced the team to place L’Jarius Sneed inside (for the most part) and go with Joshua Williams, the long-term project, on one side and Watson on the other. Yes, those were fourth- and seventh-round rookies starting against the NFL’s best team.

Fans who were frustrated by the 24-20 loss on Sunday (and that should be all of us, in a way) will likely point to those decisions and deride them. Williams was burned for two touchdowns when left on an island by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. However, it should be noted that Williams and Watson were also part of a pass defense that shut down the Bills on numerous drives. They even started the game with only three points in their first three drives, and this Chiefs offense had multiple chances to put the team over the top.

Was it the right move?

It’s hard to say whether or not the baptism by fire was the right move. It’s just too early to tell. They say that the best way to learn a new language is by immersion, to just drop yourself into the deep end of the pool and find yourself forced to learn it. But that can also drown the occasional player. If most players need time to adjust, then it can be overwhelming to take on starter’s reps while also trying to adjust to everything else.

Allowing the kids to play can also do some damage to the entire team. After all, you don’t want to let a player’s growing pains be the difference between a team winning and losing. Is that what happened on Sunday? There’s no way to definitively say.

However, what is clear is that the Chiefs are committed to these rookies and they’re not the only ones getting playing time. Leo Chenal just had 20 reps at linebacker on Sunday. Skyy Moore is getting more offensive reps to go with his return duties. George Karlaftis is a staple in the edge rotation. Isiah Pacheco is a fan favorite out of the backfield. And when Cook and McDuffie are healthy and ready, the team will be even younger.

What the Chiefs are hoping is that the trust extended to these players they’ve vigorously scouted will pay off in time with an accelerated learning curve at a tough position to help the franchise remake the entire unit pretty much within a single offseason. If Watson and Williams (and others) can grow from these reps instead of being buried by it, then this baptism by fire will be a move mimicked by others.