Chiefs New Cornerback Is Quickly Becoming A Star

The Kansas City Chiefs decided to overhaul their secondary in the offseason, and they took a lot of heat for the moves they made. The Chiefs traded All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie for draft capital rather than pay him, and they also let cornerback Jaylen Watson and safety Bryan Cook leave in free agency. 

The Chiefs then made a surprising trade on draft night, moving up three spots to make sure they could draft cornerback Mansoor Delane out of LSU with the No. 6 pick. The Chiefs were heavily criticized for giving up too much draft capital to land Delane, but it’s tough to criticize the player given what we’ve seen so far. 

It didn’t start well, but Delane is fast becoming a star, which is exactly what the Chiefs were hoping for when they selected him. He struggled OTAs and minicamp with a shoulder injury, and Kansas City took more crticism when Delane struggled to get on the field. 

But the results were undeniable once he did. Delane burst onto the scene in the Chiefs’ opener against Denver Broncos, as he promptly picked off an underthrow by Broncos quarterback Bo Nix that turned into a game-changing play. 

He re-injured his shoulder making the interception, which remains a concern going forward. But we’ve seen plenty from Delane since, and there’s a lot to love about what he’s done so far. 

It’s not just about the coverage, either. Delane looks like a shutdown corner in the making, but there’s a lot more to his game. He’s a physical player who’s more than willing to make tackles and blow up plays with his physicality, and so far he’s been a fine counterpoint to Nohl Williams at the opposite corner, as Williams' calling card is also playing physical.

The Chiefs have to be loving this. The results haven’t all been great, as the Indianapolis Colts moved the ball steadily and easily during Kansas City’s 33-30 OT win in Week 2. It looks like the Chiefs have found their shutdown corner, though, and he happens to be a complete player, too. 

Kansas City has an early bye, and the hope is that Delane can get completely healthy so that his shoulder is no longer a concern. The Chiefs will probably monitor his snap count going forward, but he’s been plug-and-play so far. It’s not hard to envision him being an All-Pro as his career unfolds, and he’s going to get noticed more and more as the new version of the Chiefs secondary continues to develop and evolve.