Could the Kansas City Chiefs opt to take a player from the national champions in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft?
With news that Tyrann Mathieu is expected to hit the open market in free agency, the Chiefs will likely need to address the safety position early on in April’s draft. One player who has been on the rise in recent weeks is University of Georgia safety Lewis Cine. The Junior defensive back finished the 2021 college football season on perhaps the highest of notes, earning defensive MVP in the national championship game and he’s been rolling ever since.
Now, Cine getting first-round buzz after his performance at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. Weighing in at 6-2 and 199 pounds with 32 1/4-inch arms, Cine has the ideal size that NFL teams are looking for at the safety position. He hit high marks in the three events he participated in at the combine, posting a 4.37 40-yard dash, a 36.5-inch vertical jump and a 133-inch broad jump. Beyond that, Cine is said to have interviewed extremely well with teams — including with the Chiefs.
“For one, I’m a smart player,” Cine told reporters of himself at the combine. “When guys are wrong, I can make them right. The fact that I have the depth to do that is like a stress-reliever in a way for me. I also can make plays. I’ve got range, I’m fast and I can come from top-down extremely fast.”
Cine has similar versatility to a player like Mathieu, with the ability to play deep, roll into the box or cover receivers and tight ends in the slot. He’s got some serious range from all over the field and it shows up often on tape, but it’s perhaps most impressive when he’s playing downhill. He’s a very sound tackler and underrated in both man and zone coverage.
Obviously, no one is going to come in and replace Mathieu’s production and leadership in Kansas City immediately. But Cine seems like the type of player who could help soften the blow of potentially losing such an integral piece of the defense.
