The Kansas City Chiefs entered the 2026 NFL Draft with a ton of draft capital and their earliest first-round pick in a decade. Every die-hard Chiefs fan had a wish list of players they hoped KC would use those picks on, especially the No. 9 overall pick. While Mansoor Delane's name was on a few of those lists, he definitely wasn't the most talked-about player, and many of us (yes, myself included) were opposed to taking a cornerback that high. Thankfully, through his first four games, Delane is making the Chiefs look brilliant and making those of us who doubted him eat our words.
For many of us who watched the 2026 NFL Draft live, it was a thrilling night. The excitement around having a top-ten pick and our favorite team actually being impacted by which players went in the top five was fascinating. Then the word came that the Chiefs had traded up from pick No. 9 to No. 6. Who did they move up for? Was it Rueben Bain? Were we finally going to get a difference-making edge player? Was it Caleb Downs, a new safety to lead Steve Spagnuolo's secondary? A wide receiver? Would they really go offensive tackle this early after taking Josh Simmons a year earlier?
Then the pick was in, and it was... Mansoor Delane?
The reaction to drafting Mansoor Delane
They traded up for a cornerback? But... Steve Spagnuolo can develop non-elite corners into quality starters. The Chiefs could have drafted a harder-to-fill position there and then just taken a corner later, and Spags could have turned him into the next Jaylen Watson or Charvarius Ward. They spent their one chance to pick in the top ten on a cornerback? Really?!?!
They didn't just spend a top-ten pick on a cornerback; they gave up a third-rounder (No. 74 overall) and a fifth-rounder (No. 148 overall) to move up even higher and take him. So they spent their only top-ten pick in a decade plus gave up two more top-150 picks to take a corner? What were they thinking?
Those were my thoughts in the moments following the Mansoor Delane pick, and based on scrolling social media in the minutes that followed, I certainly wasn't alone. The frustration and doubt were never really about Delane as a talent, but more about the Chiefs' process of filling positions. They traded away Trent McDuffie and let Jaylen Watson walk in free agency. We believed that was because they thought they could replace them for less and use their resources to fill other holes, not just turn around and use a ton of those resources to draft their replacement.
At least that's what I thought. The problem is, if we're being honest, it was partly about the player. Many of us (again, I'm including myself) thought Mansoor Delane was a first-round talent, but maybe not a sixth-overall talent. There were Chiefs fans who were high on Delane, but even they weren't trumpeting him as someone who would walk into the league and instantly be one of the best corners in the NFL. However, after his first four games in the NFL, that's exactly what he has been.
It's not fun right now to be the author of a piece titled Mansoor Delane would be a terrible top-10 pick for the Kansas City Chiefs. In that article, I wrote:
"If Delane was viewed as a Sauce Gardner/Jalen Ramsey/Darrelle Revis type of elite corner, he would be a surefire top five draft pick in a draft class that is seen as short on true elite talents, especially at the more premium positions."
Brett Veach clearly believed that Delane has that kind of upside. I did not. I guess that's why he's paid the big bucks to make those decisions and I'm not. I can say without hesitation that I'm thrilled that I was wrong. As soon as the Chiefs selected Delane and we got over the shock of it, many of us who wouldn't have made that pick still wanted to see him succeed because, ultimately, when you are a fan of a team, you'd rather see them succeed than fail and be able to say "I told you so."
Mansoor Delane has been fantastic
Delane is succeeding by every measurable standard as well. First and foremost, he passes the eye test. While he's had a couple of mistakes, his coverage has been fantastic overall, and he's been even more physical and impressive in the run game than expected. Pro Football Focus lists him as having allowed only 9 completions on 99 coverage snaps, with an opposing QB rating of just 46.5 when targeting his man. He also has a couple of pass breakups, an interception, and 8 run stops. PFF has him as both their No. 5 highest-graded corner overall and their No. 5 best corner in coverage through 4 games.
It's certainly possible that as the season plays out and Delane has to face some of the top receivers in the NFL (Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua, and Ja'Marr Chase are all still on the schedule), we could see his ratings drop and a "welcome to the NFL" moment here or there, but thus far, it's hard to imagine a better start to an NFL career for a cornerback than what we've seen from Delane thus far. He's helped the defense contribute to a 4-0 start. He looks like he has the potential to be one of, if not the. best young corners in the league. He's also making those of us who questioned the Chiefs' decision to take him that high look foolish, and for just this once, I couldn't be happier to play the part of the fool.
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