For the second consecutive week, the Kansas City Chiefs have a player taking home an NFL Player of the Week Award. Last week, it was QB Patrick Mahomes for his dominant performance over the Cardinals. This week, it’s CB Jaylen Watson for his game-changing fourth-quarter 99-yard interception returned for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2.
During his first career start, the seventh-round draft pick out of Washington State registered what is the longest go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown scored by a rookie in NFL history. He also recorded four total tackles and allowed just three receptions on eight targets into his coverage according to PFF. Watson said after the game that he knew he’d get an interception. Now he joins Mike Hughes and Marcus Peters (2015, 2016, 2017) as the only Chiefs cornerbacks to earn the honor in the past 10 seasons.
Watson is also the first rookie to win a Player of the Week Award for Kansas City since Tommy Townsend did it in Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season. He’s become just the fourth former Washington State defensive back to earn Defensive Player of the Week, joining the trio of James Hasty, Marcus Trufant and Brian Walker.
Watson has only played 84 defensive snaps in his NFL career and he’s already out here winning weekly awards. It’s still a bit early, but it’s beginning to feel like a safe bet to say that Kansas City has managed to get themselves a steal in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft.
