The excitement to see Mansoor Delane roaming the Kansas City Chiefs secondary on game days is palpable at this point, but health has been a factor from the very beginning. On Sunday night, in a primetime game against the Indianapolis Colts, Chiefs Kingdom watched a healthy and available Delane sit on the sidelines all night. Fortunately, the home team came through with a victory in a 33-30 overtime thriller even without Delane, but questions persisted about his status after the fact.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made it clear to reporters after the game that Delane was around in case of an emergency, but he clarified those remarks on Monday with a bit more context and perspective.
"He was right on the border of, 'All right, you can get in and play a full game and/or, if we can, get it to calm down a little bit more and maybe he's better this week.' It was a tweener position to be in, but he wanted to suit up and, if needed, he could have gone in," said Reid. "But we were trying to keep him from having to play a full game in there for sure."
Delane's health has been an ongoing concern
On Sunday, the Chiefs relied on Kristian Fulton in a starting role to get through Delane's absence for his second pro game, which was the game plan in Week 1 as well in a season-opening victory over the Denver Broncos. In that contest, Delane came up with an early interception on the first series of his professional career, but it came at a cost when he landed awkwardly on his shoulder while attempting to gain a few yards on the return.
Delane exited the game and was designated as questionable before being downgraded to out. The shoulder brought up concerns for and connections to a previous shoulder blade injury that first surfaced at OTAs in the spring. Delane would go on to miss all of mandatory minicamp as a sideline observer and weeks of training camp in St. Joseph, where he wore the yellow non-contact jersey. Delane was eventually cleared for padded practices and ultimately made his debut in Week 1 as hoped.
The context going forward
Fulton's mercurial day on Sunday and the defense's overall struggles to slow a Colts team that looked worse on paper than it performed point to Delane's importance. But Reid's insistence that the team wanted to get it right, even if it meant struggling through his recovery, could mean more missed time for Delane. That's all conjecture at this point, but it might make sense to hold him out against a Miami Dolphins roster that even passionate NFL fans would have a hard time identifying.
In Week 4, the Chiefs visit the Las Vegas Raiders for their second consecutive road contest before getting a full week of rest with a Week 5 bye. It's possible Delane is already well enough to ease back into the lineup as soon as Sunday in Miami, but the Chiefs are clearly taking a cautious approach while discerning the situation in real time as it unfolds.
Delane's expected impact
When Delane is ready to go, the Chiefs' defense should have a chance to take a meaningful step forward, even with a green rookie who is going to need time to get comfortable in a rebuilt secondary. The Chiefs watched L'Jarius Sneed get burned in coverage on several passes against Indianapolis. Fulton got flagged a couple of times for significant yardage. Delane's arrival will shift the depth chart toward everyone's comfort zones.
More than what it will mean for others is what Delane brings himself. The former LSU cornerback was the Chiefs' earliest pick since taking offensive tackle Eric Fisher first overall in the 2013 draft—and K.C. even traded up three slots to get him, from No. 9 to No. 6 overall. As the top rated corner prospect in this year's draft class, Delane is expected to provide the sort of lockdown option that the team lost when trading Trent McDuffie to the L.A. Rams last spring.
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