2 Chiefs Rookies Earn Prestigious Early-Season Honor

Getty Kansas City Chiefs rookie cornerback Jaylen Watson during Week 4.

The Kansas City Chiefs 2022 draft class looked very deep all summer but it’s had a quieter start to the season.

The main reason for that is head coach Andy Reid and this coaching staff have not needed to rush their youngsters into key roles. Skyy Moore has been utilized more as a returner than a wide receiver through his first four games. Bryan Cook is the third safety on the roster and Isiah Pacheco is only rotating in at running back.

Prospects like Joshua Williams, Darian Kinnard and Nazeeh Johnson are also stuck in reserve roles for now. Couple that with the Trent McDuffie injury and only three draft picks have been handed a heavy workload early in the year — George Karlaftis, fill-in Jaylen Watson, and Leo Chenal.

Two of those three were honored by The Athletic as they announced the early-season leaders in the 2022 All-Rookie race.

Jaylen Watson Named All-Rookie Starter

The Athletic’s staff of draft experts dropped the first installment of their eventual All-Rookie team on October 5, noting the “first quarter” leaders after four weeks. Only two Chiefs made the roster and the big surprise was Watson at cornerback.

It’s not a shock that the seventh-rounder is listed over McDuffie and other top CB prospects given the results of the season but what is eye-opening is who he’s surrounded by. The Athletic only chose three rookies for the first-team cornerback slot, and Watson joined top-five prospects Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner (New York Jets) and Derek Stingley Jr. (Houston Texans).

What an honor!

“Gardner and Stingley were unanimous selections,” they wrote, “but there wasn’t much separating Watson and [Tariq] Woolen [Seattle Seahawks] for the final spot — especially after Woolen delivered a pick six in Detroit on Sunday (his second INT of the season)… Watson, pick No. 243 in April, might still be riding the momentum of his own 99-yard interception in Week 2, which helped him land AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.”

Watson has been all defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could ask for spelling McDuffie and his aforementioned pick-six stole a key divisional victory from Los Angeles. Given his draft status and positive story, he’s become a fast fan favorite in Kansas City.

Later, the staff added that “the rookie CB crop looks deep,” citing players like Roger McCreary (Tennessee Titans), Kyler Gordon (Chicago Bears) and Kaiir Elam (Buffalo Bills) as well as honorable mentions Woolen and Jack Jones (New England Patriots).

George Karlaftis ‘Shouldn’t Be Slept On’ as Honorable Mention

Karlaftis was listed as a second-team edge rusher behind starters Travon Walker (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Aidan Hutchinson (Detroit Lions), but the explanation favored the Chiefs pass rusher more than the top two selections of the draft.

“This is a tough conversation,” The Athletic staff began, “because — as was the case when we evaluated this position before the draft — there’s good news and bad news all over the place. While Hutchinson leads all rookie edges through four games with ‘true pass set pressures’ (nine), per Pro Football Focus, and sacks (three), both he and Walker have had rather pedestrian win rates (PFF grades each at 8 percent). The top two picks in April’s draft have shown solid, improving work against the run, though, and each has offered glimpses of a much higher ceiling.”

They continued: “Karlaftis and [Jermaine] Johnson [Jets] shouldn’t be slept on here, at all. A case could’ve been made for either to make this [starter] list. Karlaftis continues to push the pocket for the Chiefs, but — as was the case at Purdue, on occasion — he’s not quite finishing (zero sacks).”

It’s true, Karlaftis has not registered his first career sack after exciting during the preseason but watching him, it feels like he’s very close. An honorable mention here is still an accomplishment in itself considering the rookie depth at the edge rusher position in 2022.

In case you were wondering, The Athletic chose two starters and one honorable mention at linebacker. Devin Lloyd (Jaguars), Malcolm Rodriguez (Lions) and Quay Walker (Green Bay Packers) beat out Chenal during this initial write-up.