Mansoor Delane wasted no time making his presence felt for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The former LSU standout, taken sixth overall in this past draft, came up with his first career interception on his first drive, and it took only three snaps for him to do it. The play came after pressure from the line forced a bad throw, and Delane was in the right spot to finish it off.
The celebration came with a price, though. Delane re-injured the lingering right shoulder issue he had been dealing with in camp on the landing, then took another shot to it when Courtland Sutton brought him down on the tackle. He went back to the locker room after the play and, as of the time of writing, had not returned after being listed as questionable.
Kansas City is planning to lean on the 22-year-old right away as a starter, so the team is not likely to rush him back if there’s any doubt.
Delane’s knack for making plays on the ball showed up early at LSU, too. He picked off a pass in his first game for the Tigers and finished that season with two interceptions overall. The low total had more to do with quarterbacks avoiding him than any lack of production.
That was the story throughout his first year in Baton Rouge. According to Pro Football Focus, Delane was targeted just 35 times, allowed 14 catches, and forced seven incompletions. He also played 14 preseason snaps and wasn’t targeted once.
So far, he’s one-for-one on turning targets into turnovers at the next level.
In Other News...
LSU Just Scored Another Court Win In Its SEC Eligibility Fight
Another legal turn went LSUs way this week in the eligibility fight surrounding some of its athletes, as the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal rejected the Southeastern Conferences bid to pause the case and pursue supervisory writs. The ruling keeps in place a Baton Rouge district courts preliminary injunction, which stops the NCAA and SEC from blocking LSU from putting certain players on its football roster while their eligibility claims work through the legal process.
For LSU, the immediate importance is less about the courtroom language than the roster flexibility it preserves in the middle of a dispute that is still very much alive. The SEC has already taken the matter in a different direction as well, filing a separate federal lawsuit against LSU and its officials, so the conference office is clearly not done pressing its side even after this latest setback in state court. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Are Facing A Brutal Price To See This Ole Miss Showdown
The buzz around Saturdays LSU trip to Ole Miss has pushed the ticket market into eye-watering territory, with fans hunting for a seat at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium finding very little relief. The cheapest listings on SeatGeek are sitting around $467 with fees, while secondary market data shows a median price near $862, a reflection of how much attention this matchup has generated.
It is, after all, a top-10 meeting with ESPNs College GameDay in town and Lane Kiffin back in Oxford now wearing LSU colors, which only adds to the intrigue. For Tigers fans hoping to make the trip, the challenge is no longer just watching one of the SECs biggest games, but figuring out whether the price of admission is worth it. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Just Reopened An Ole Miss Rivalry Wound
Lane Kiffins jump from Ole Miss to LSU has done more than change the balance of power in the SEC West. It has also stirred up one of the sports most emotional rivalries, because this is not just a coach changing jobs, it is a figure with deep ties to one side now landing on the other. For LSU fans, the move instantly becomes part of the larger chase for momentum in a rivalry that has long thrived on suspicion, bragging rights and the feeling that every slight gets remembered.
Ole Miss supporters are left to process the same old coaching pain in a new way, while LSU has to live with the reality that the Rebels will treat Kiffins arrival as personal. The broader backdrop of fan reactions to coaches at Penn State, Arizona, Northwestern and Oklahoma only sharpens how much these departures can linger, but this one carries a particularly sharp edge because of the history between these two programs. What happens next will say plenty about how quickly Kiffin can make his new home feel like the right fit. [Read more 🡒]