KC Chiefs: Marcus Peters Showing Confidence This Offseason
KC Chiefs fans were thrilled when Marcus Peters had the rookie year that he did in 2015 and are hoping that the young cornerback builds on that success in 2016. The former Washington Husky is showing he’s ready to be elite this season.
Marcus Peters was the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft for John Dorsey and the Kansas City Chiefs. After Eric Fisher and Dee Ford hadn’t lived up to expectations, Dorsey needed this risky pick to pay off, and in just one season, Peters has done that and so much more.
His rookie year saw him rack up 53 tackles, 26 defended passes, eight interceptions (two taken back to the house), and one forced fumble. His biggest play was arguably on the very first snap of his career when he intercepted Hoyer and put the Chiefs in the red zone early on in their first game of the year.
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There was also that time when he picked off Sherriff Manning not once, but TWICE. Both of those were pick sixes by the way. Good times.
Earlier this week, Peters spoke to the media at OTAs and was asked how offensive coordinators would handle him this season.
“Just come at me and we’ll see”, Peters responded. You gotta love the confidence that he’s showing and it really speaks well to where this team’s mindset is at heading into the 2016 season.
I asked Peters how OCs will adjust to him now that they have a year's worth of tape on him. "Just come at me and we'll see," he said.
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) May 25, 2016
Peters not only had the big quote this week, but he was named to the NFL Top 100 Players on Wednesday night, coming in at number 65 on the player-ranked list. Not too bad for a rookie who had “character issues” while in college.
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Personally, I was a little worried about Marcus Peters heading into 2016 due to that tiresome sophomore slump that we tend to hear about a lot. Opposing offenses have now gotten a long offseason’s look at Peters and what he’s capable of and he might be a little easier to figure out this season.
Still though, it’s nice to see the second year defender showing some grit.
Losing Sean Smith this offseason, especially to Oakland, really hurt this defense, but if Peters can step into that role Smith had, then maybe the secondary will be just fine.
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There’s a lot to like about these Kansas City Chiefs this offseason. They’ve kept most of their defense intact and have a pretty solid draft class. It’ll be interesting to see how well these Chiefs perform this season and how big of a role Marcus Peters plays in that.
One thing’s for sure though. Peters isn’t going to let wide receivers walk all over him this season. He’s the main man in the secondary now and he knows it.