The 2026 NFL Draft is only a few days away, and the Kansas City Chiefs have a rare top ten pick and an opportunity to add the type of player that is typically out of range for a team quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes. This offseason, the Chiefs lost both of their starting cornerbacks when they traded away Trent McDuffie and let Jaylen Watson walk in free agency. Therefore, it is understandable that one of the most mocked players to KC is a cornerback, specifically LSU's Mansoor Delane. While that fit seems like a match made in heaven, it would actually be a major misuse of such a rare and premium asset for the Chiefs.Â
Depending on which consensus big board you look at, Mansoor Delane is typically between 8–10 overall. So the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that lost both of their starting cornerbacks and picks at #9 overall, do seem like a perfect fit for a cornerback that consensus thinks is right in that range in terms of value. However, you have to look a little beyond the surface to see why this particular player going to this particular team just isn't the best use of that pick for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Marsoor Delane is a very good (but not elite) cornerback prospect
Just to be clear, this isn't about Mansoor Delane being overrated. Delane is 100% a first-round cornerback that feels like a very safe bet to be a quality cornerback from day one of his rookie season and should have a successful NFL career for years to come. The problem is that most experts agree he's just shy of the true NFL shut-down corner tier prospect. 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.
Delane is incredibly fluid and excels in zone coverage and is very good in man coverage as well. He's smart and has good technique. His size and speed are both good but fall just short of being ideal for a true shut-down corner that you can match up with any wide receiver in man coverage. While he ran an impressive 4.38 40-yard dash at his pro day, there are times on tape where really fast/twitchy wideouts can get away from him (KC Conception was one). While he plays physical, he isn't overly strong, and his 30" arms leave room for bigger/stronger wideouts to bully him a little at the catch point.
In a deeper draft class, Delane is probably a player that would go more in the 15–20 range than borderline top ten. This is definitely nitpicking a very good player who is worthy of a top 15 pick in this draft and will be a starting-caliber corner from the moment he steps on an NFL field, but if the Kansas City Chiefs are going to spend a rare top ten pick on a cornerback, you would want that corner to be so special that you can't possibly wait to take a different one later in the draft, and for the Chiefs specifically, I don't think that is the case with Delane.
Why the Chiefs aren't the best fit for Mansoor Delane
The Chiefs love to put their outside corners alone on an island with opposing wideouts, and while Delane is good in man coverage, he is even better in zone and would probably maximize his abilities best in a more zone-heavy team (again, not that he can't play man, but zone seems like the best fit). Then there is the "bust insurance tax" that you are paying for Delane. Meaning, he may not be truly elite, but what he does well is so good that he isn't likely to bust, which will make a lot of teams jump to take him in the top 15. However, that "safety" that Delane brings is less of a selling point when you're a team that is known for developing and getting the most out of your corners.
Steve Spagnuolo and Dave Merritt might have the best reputation in all the NFL for being able to turn mid- to late-round corners into high-level starters. They did it with Charvarius Ward. They did it with L'Jarius Sneed. They did it with Jaylen Watson. So you don't need to draft a "safe" corner early over a player that may have similar upside but comes with a little more risk. Case in point, if Mansoor Delane and some of the cornerbacks that could go around the Chiefs picks at 29 and 40 like Colton Hood, Chris Johnson, and Brandon Cisse all hit their best-case-scenario outcome, I don't think Delane's ceiling is much, if any, higher than those other three. He's just a safer bet to reach it and to not bust.
However, if you think Spagnuolo/Merritt give you a high percentage to get a top outcome out of a player like Hood/Johnson/Cisse and get an outcome similar to what you would get from Delane, you don't need to use a top ten pick on Delane, where the only real advantage might be better play as a rookie. However, if there are players at other positions where you feel drastically less confident that you can get a similar result out of a player you take at 29 or 40, it would be a much better use of that premium asset at pick nine to take that position. Maybe that player is an edge rusher, a wide receiver, a less premium position like linebacker (where the Chiefs currently have a need), or safety, or if those positions are gone, offensive tackle would be a better fallback option. Any position would be a better investment if you truly believe the drop-off is significant between what you could get at that same position later.
For some teams, the drop-off between Delane and someone like Cisse would be significant enough to make Delane an easy pick, because Cisse needs some development, and if your coaching staff doesn't have a great track record with corners, then you can't take that risk, but the Chiefs would be wasting the advantage they have with corners if they take Delane at pick 9. You can actually make a very strong case that Jermod McCoy from Tennessee would be a better pick for the Chiefs because most view him as having a higher ceiling and more elite traits, but he's coming off an injury and is more raw. He's also two years younger than Delane. So if KC doesn't like who is left on the board at pick 9, they'd be better off taking McCoy than Delane.
Mansoor Delane is a great prospect, will be picked in the top 15 of the 2026 NFL Draft, and should have a good NFL career. He just isn't the right pick for the Kansas City Chiefs and their incredibly rare top ten draft pick, given his profile, K.C.'s track record with cornerbacks, and all the other positions of need where KC doesn't have the same history of success.
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