The Kansas City Chiefs went all-in on improving the defense across the first two rounds of the draft, starting by selecting former LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane No. 6 overall after trading up three spots inside the top-10 to ensure his acquisition.
Delane is going to prove crucial to the Chiefs’ secondary, even as a rookie, after Kansas City traded Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams and subsequently watched Jaylen Watson leave for the same franchise in free agency.
However, Delane has already taken a setback in his quest to be ready for Week 1 due to a shoulder injury he sustained earlier this offseason, which continues to linger.
“Delane dinged his shoulder at some point during OTAs,” Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports reported Sunday, June 28. “Delane did not participate in the team’s mandatory minicamp practices and was spotted on the sidelines without a helmet, going through individual footwork drills.”
Chiefs Can’t Yet Confirm Mansoor Delane Will Be Healthy Enough to Open Training Camp
GettyHead coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Head coach Andy Reid expressed optimism that the cornerback will be ready to roll come training camp later next month.
But Reid also employed the use the term “hopeful” — a dreaded adjective in NFL injury circles that can imply a positive outcome, but which doesn’t guarantee it and can also mean a player is behind schedule.
“Reid confirmed the shoulder injury and said the team is hopeful Delane will be ready for the start of training camp at the end of July,” Goldman continued. “They obviously don’t want to rush him out there, but they do need him to make up any ground lost while sidelined during mandatory minicamp.”
Chiefs Will Rely on Defense More Heavily if Patrick Mahomes Takes Time to Return to Form
GettyQuarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City is going to rely heavily on its defense in 2026, particularly in the early going, after also selecting defensive tackle Peter Woods late in Round 1 and edge-rusher R Mason Thomas early in Round 2 to improve a front that entered the offseason in need of help against the run and the pass.
Meanwhile, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is trending toward a return in Week 1. But questions persist as to how much time it will take him to regain his true form following an ACL/LCL tear in Week 15 of last season that will provide him exactly nine months to the day for rehabilitation between the date of the injury and the Chiefs’ opener on September 14.
“The question, of course, becomes, is he his old self? Does he need some time to be the player that he has always been when he’s been healthy?” Dan Graziano of ESPN said on “Get Up” Friday. “That’s a player that can take an average or above-average roster and make it a championship roster. So that’s what they’re going to need, because I think they’ve improved the defense. But the offense, you know, is pretty much what they had last year.”
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