The LA Chargers emphatically ended the Kansas City Chiefs' dynasty back in December and five months later, Kansas City is making moves that may keep the dynasty from coming back any time soon.
After trading Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams for a late first-round pick, among draft capital, the Chiefs traded draft capital to move up two spots from the No. 9 pick to the No. 6 pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Chiefs shocked everyone and took LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane.
It was a truly hilarious sequence for a player who definitely is talented. However, talent doesn't mean everything, especially when the Chiefs probably could have just stayed put and made the exact same pick. Washington was always going to take Sonny Styles, and Delane didn't even crack the top-five fits for the Saints.
You might think we are biased because we are a Chargers site, so don't listen to us. Listen to the experts who cover the Chiefs over at our sister site, Arrowhead Addict. Two days before the draft, Lyle Graversen wrote that Delane would be a terrible top-10 pick for KC.
"In a deeper draft class, Delane is probably a player that would go more in the 15–20 range than borderline top ten," Graversen writes.
"This is definitely nitpicking a very good player who is worthy of a top 15 pick in this draft and will be a starting-caliber corner from the moment he steps on an NFL field, but if the Kansas City Chiefs are going to spend a rare top ten pick on a cornerback, you would want that corner to be so special that you can't possibly wait to take a different one later in the draft, and for the Chiefs specifically, I don't think that is the case with Delane."
Chargers fans better hope Chiefs experts are right about Mansoor Delane
Usually, the Chargers want to hope that those covering the Chiefs are off-base about the players on their team. In this case, though, we hope that this analysis is 100% correct. Kansas City wasting draft capital on someone to be a serviceable corner would be great for the Chargers' long-term prospects.
This is a pivotal draft for the Chiefs. If Kansas City is going to have a second title window with Patrick Mahomes like the Patriots did with Tom Brady then they have to hit a home run in the NFL Draft. Recent drafts haven't been so kind to the Chiefs, and it doesn't look like fans are over-the-moon about the team's Delane pick, either.
But hey, maybe the Chiefs are just that afraid of Justin Herbert. After all, he is the most talented quarterback in the division when Mahomes isn't playing and he just got one of the best offensive minds in the entire sport as offensive coordinator.
That's a pretty daunting situation to come up against, so we don't blame the Chiefs for making a panic trade to replace McDuffie. Doesn't make it a great move. Just ask the Chiefs experts.
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