The Kansas City Chiefs took a risk they felt was worth it by moving up three spots in this year's draft for Mansoor Delane. The LSU cornerback is hopefully going to be their next shutdown corner that eventually gets traded before the Chiefs have to pay him.
Before that can happen, Delane needs to be able to play, and so far in training camp, he's been saddled with the yellow non-contact jersey. The Chiefs' first-round pick (No. 6 overall) was initially limited in minicamp participation and that's stretched into the first couple of weeks of training camp in St. Joseph, where a shoulder injury has forced the training staff to figure out ways to keep him involved even if it's not at full speed.
So, what's the scoop on Delane and when can Chiefs fans expect to see him? Brett Veach answered all of that during a recent appearance on SiriusXM's NFL Radio. While speaking with Jacob Hester and Pat Kirwan, Veach revealed what was going on with Delane.
“Starting first with Mansoor [Delane], he had a shoulder blade right toward the end of OTAs,” Veach said. “And so we don’t think it’s going to be long term or anything, but that has to just completely heal.”
Chiefs get promising news on rookie Mansoor Delane
The good news is that Veach seemed confident Delane would be ready for the regular-season opener against Denver, even if the rookie misses this weekend’s preseason opener.
“There’s nothing limiting him out there,” Veach said. “You know he’s been taking all the 7-on-7 reps and just not the team periods and the contact stuff. We want to leave him out of that right now, but I would say in the next 7-8 days he’ll probably get the green light to do everything. So, we’re excited about him.”
The Chiefs are putting a lot of faith in Delane. Not only did they take him sixth overall but they traded up to do so. They needed a new cornerback after losing both Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to the Rams in the offseason and Delane is hopefully the shiny new toy for Steve Spagnuolo in the secondary.
Obviously the most important thing is that Delane is healthy before he takes the field but if Veach says he's ready to go, then Chiefs fans can probably breathe a little easier. Now he just needs to prove he was worth the team trading up for and can become the next Kansas City lockdown cornerback.
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