Kansas City Chiefs fans had at least a fair level of confidence in the defense's ability to recycle the secondary this offseason. The track record for replenishing the cornerback depth chart is simply too great over the last decade or so to believe otherwise. But when a position loses one of the NFL's elite in Trent McDuffie and another very good starter in Jaylen Watson—well, even that felt like a tall order for the Chiefs in a single offseason.
As it turns out, the Chiefs are doing just fine after their first three games. Nohl Williams is performing like a future Pro Bowler. Mansoor Delane also looks like the real thing as the consensus top corner in this year's draft, although he's only played one full game. Kristian Fulton is a nice third option, and L'Jarius Sneed has been filling in at nickel. Given the overall depth, the Chiefs did well to rebuild the defensive backfield.
But what about McDuffie and Watson? Both are now with the L.A. Rams by way of a blockbuster trade and free agency, respectively. We recently asked Bret Stuter, who is the site expert for Ramblin Fan and has covered the Rams for the last five years, to tell us more about how the former Chiefs corners are faring so far and whether they'd still redo that deal.
The Rams' big investment in both McDuffie and Watson. Was the secondary really that desperate for help coming into the offseason?
I think so. It was clear in the NFL Playoffs that the Rams defense had no answers to stop good passing offenses. Seattle's Jaxson Smith-Njigba burned LA. And the team wanted to play more man coverage. The Chiefs' cornerbacks not only checked all the boxes, but they even brought solid run defense to a secondary that was not known for solid tackling cornerbacks. So far in 2026, no single receiver has put up more than 50 yards in a game.
What's your reflection now on the price paid to get McDuffie in that trade?
I think it was a steal. McDuffie is better than the brochure. He has limited his targets to six receptions out of 18 targets. He has seven passes defensed, which is a huge achievement in only 3 games. And he has contributed an interception. He's made 11 tackles without missing any. Best of all, opposing quarterbacks throw his way at their own peril. He has a QB rating of 19.2 when throwing his way. No rookie corner in the draft comes anywhere close to that level of dominance
How was Watson looking before the injury so far?
Jaylen Watson was slightly more mortal. He had the tougher assignment of matching against bigger, more physical receivers. But he was playing well, as he allowed 8-of-13 completions and had broken up 3 passes. The true tell of how well Watson was playing was the fact that over the last six quarters of his playing time, LA's defense allowed just six points. After he left the game due to a shoulder injury, Denver's offense exploded for 23 points (7 points occurred due to Stafford's pick-six).
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