Chiefs’ Mansoor Delane immediately makes presence felt in preseason after injury-plagued training camp
Kansas City Chiefs rookie Mansoor Delane had a strong preseason debut for the team vs the Buccaneers on Saturday.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs continued their preseason slate with a narrow road loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs mostly played their backups in this one, with the team tuning up for the upcoming 2026 NFL season.
Chiefs rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane was in action for this contest after missing much of training camp due to injury, and he wasted no time in making his presence felt against Tampa Bay.
“Delane showed physicality at the line of scrimmage as well as high football IQ. His highlight play came to start the second drive after he diagnosed a Bucs screen pass and shot upfield to disrupt the timing of receiver David Sills V. The chaos aided a teammate as cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace cleaned things up for a 1-yard loss,” reported Jesse Newell of The Athletic.
Newell also noted that “That was the only reception Delane allowed in 11 snaps, per Pro Football Focus’ data.”
The Chiefs gave up a lot to go up and snag Delane in the first round of the NFL Draft this year, hoping to pick up some of the slack after parting ways with considerable defensive backfield depth this offseason, including Trent McDuffie.
Delane has been dealing with a shoulder injury throughout much of training camp, but when he’s healthy, he has shown plenty of potential as a future building block of the Chiefs’ defensive backfield.
Overall, the Chiefs are facing significant pressure this year to bounce back after missing the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era this past season, and Kansas City will need some of its young players, including Delane, to step up and contribute right away in order to make that happen.
The Chiefs are set to kick off their new season on September 14 vs the Denver Broncos.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs continued their preseason slate with a narrow road loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs mostly played their backups in this one, with the team tuning up for the upcoming 2026 NFL season. Chiefs rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane was in action for this contest after missing much of training camp due to injury, and he wasted no time in making his presence felt against Tampa Bay.