The Chiefs aggressively climbed the draft board to select the best corner on it.
Kansas City moved up three spots and selected LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. In the trade, the Chiefs sent pick Nos. 9, 74 and 148 to the Browns in exchange for No. 6, which Cleveland used to select Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano.
"We ended up trading up for him," head coach Andy Reid said Thursday. "We thought that was important. I know a lot of the mock drafts and all that had us taking him at that spot, the ninth spot, and then people above us we knew were also interested at corner, so we felt like we needed to go up and snag him. Very similar to we did with (Trent) McDuffie when you really look at it. I think he'll come in and contribute. Like all the guys, they've got to earn their spot on team and so on, but he'll definitely have an opportunity to do that. He's a heck of player, heck of a kid. … Tremendous amount of energy, great ball skills, great feet, good size and good speed on top of all that."
Later in the night, the Chiefs stuck with the defensive side of the ball by picking Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods at No. 29 overall.
"This is a kid we had our eye on right from the beginning," Reid said of Woods. "He's a defensive tackle, he's got great athletic ability. I think when you watch him, his highlights, you'll see that. Just a tremendous athlete, whether it's in the pass game or the run game. Great feet. Great hands, escapability with his hands on sheds, and he's also a great kid."
As Reid alluded to, Delane was paired with Kansas City with the No. 9 pick in most mock drafts, and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach decided it wasn't worth risking missing out on the top corner in this class. As consistent in college as can be, Delane is a sticky, shifty defender with all the makings of a shutdown corner.
Delane, 22, spent his first three collegiate seasons at Virginia Tech, collecting six interceptions, 16 passes defensed and 146 tackles in 33 games for the Hokies.
He then transferred to LSU, where he cemented himself as a top CB in the FBS. Delane started all 11 games during his senior season, with two interceptions and 11 passes defensed despite seeing only 35 targets. For his efforts, he was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation's best defensive back, and was named a first-teamer on the All-American and All-SEC teams.
There are few weaknesses to Delane's game. He's a bit over aggressive with his hands in coverage but can otherwise be counted on to make an impact in myriad ways. Delane is effective lined up in various spots defensively and is efficient in multiple coverage types, sporting good tracking in zone situations and the physicality to press opposing receivers. That physicality translates after the catch, as well -- Delane is a thumper who wraps up superbly at a position for which sure tackling is usually a trait gone missing. His 4.35-second 40-yard dash at his pro day also makes it clear he can keep up with the league's speedier wideouts, which was perhaps the lone, lingering question mark regarding his trajectory after he didn't test at the combine.
An all-around cover corner, Delane could quickly progress to a point that he boosts defensive game planning by removing a large portion of the field. He represents the perfect replacement for the Chiefs, who traded away star corner Trent McDuffie to the Rams and watched fellow starting corner Jaylen Watson join him in Los Angeles.
Now, they'll have a brand-new shutdown corner to insert into their secondary.
