Kansas City Chiefs rookie Mansoor Delane is back on the field in full, and that matters for a secondary that needs help.
Delane showed up Monday at the University of Kansas Hospital Arrowhead Training Complex wearing full pads and the yellow practice jersey, according to Jesse Newell of The Athletic. That jersey signals he’s cleared to take part in full-contact work, a sharp turn after he opened training camp dealing with a shoulder injury.
The timing couldn’t be better for a Chiefs team trying to sort out its defensive backfield. Kansas City drafted the 22-year-old cornerback with the No. 6 pick in April after his career at LSU, and the club also added lower-tier cornerbacks Kader Kohou and Kaiir Elam. That group arrives in the wake of offseason losses at corner, with Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson no longer on the roster.
Delane’s appeal is easy to see. He can handle both man and zone coverage, and at LSU he posted a 40% completion rate allowed along with 13 breakup passes. He also left college as a unanimous All-American and a First-Time All-SEC honoree.
Still, the pick came with pushback. ESPN analyst Seth Walder criticized the Chiefs for trading up to get Delane, saying they should have added more offense instead of bolstering the secondary.
Kansas City is coming off a 6-11 season that ended without a playoff berth for the first time since 2014. The rebuilding effort already started with a preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams, 20-12, last Saturday, and Delane did not play in that game.
The Chiefs’ next preseason matchup is Saturday, Aug. 22 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay at 6:30 pm CST/7:30 pm EST. It is still unclear whether Delane will be on the field for that one.
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