2023 Super Bowl: Ranking rookies who will have biggest impact in Eagles vs. Chiefs, as Jaylen Watson headlines

For the second-straight Super Bowl, one team is so much about its veterans. The Eagles have plenty of homegrown stars like Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, and Jalen Hurts and hit the aggression accelerators this offseason with trades to acquire A.J. Brown and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to supplement the offense and defense. 

And, sure, the Chiefs have their veteran, homegrown superstars. You know them. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones. But the post Tyreek Hill era in Kansas City began with a rousing success due in large part to the highly relied upon rookie class. So let’s rank the most critical first-year pros in Super Bowl LVII:

(yeah, it’s all Chiefs)

The Chiefs are going to need more than Jones denting the Eagles offensive line in this game. And Philadelphia has the most formidable, congealed blocking unit in football. Karlaftis, Kansas City’s second first-round pick in 2022, has not had an awesome rookie season as an individual pass rusher winning in one-on-one situations. But he’s played a lot and quietly racked up 49 pressures on 506 total pass-rushing snaps. 

He’ll either see enormous tackles Johnson or Jordan Mailata when attempting to pressure Hurts, so he’ll have quite the challenge in this Super Bowl. But any sort of consistent pressure or lone splash play as a rusher would go a long way in helping the Chiefs defense. 

A prolonged injury layoff put McDuffie behind the acclimation curve in his rookie season. By now he’s a fully locked-in professional defender capable of playing quality coverage in the slot or on the perimeter. In this Super Bowl, the former first-round pick from Washington with lightning-quick feet and reliable tackling will be put to the test on the outside zone runs and RPOs, patented in the Eagles offense. 

He’ll also have to showcase his coverage skills against a stable of backs and monster tight end Dallas Goedert too. How tightly McDuffie sticks to his assignment and secures ball carriers without misses will be key to the Chiefs containing the Eagles extraordinarily well-balanced offense.