The Dallas Cowboys are heading into an important weekend as they approach the 2026 NFL Draft. The theme of this year’s class will be all about the defense after they fielded one of the worst units in the league last season and the Cowboys will have an excellent chance of adding a blue-chip talent holding both the 12th and 20th selections in the first round.
Like in most drafts, some talent is more accessible than others, but there’s always a chance someone could fall on draft night. One of the more interesting names has been Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who could challenge Malik Hooker for a starting spot, but with the former Buckeye looking like a top 10 pick, the Cowboys may have to LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane.
Delane is currently projected to go ninth overall to the Kansas City Chiefs in NFL Mock Draft Databases’s consensus mock draft but it could take a few teams going in opposite directions to have the former Tiger land in the Cowboys’ lap at No. 12. If he’s available, Delane becomes a no-brainer pick and one that can help Dallas help stop opposing passing games in 2026.
Cowboys Could Save Their Secondary if Mansoor Delane Falls in NFL Draft
The need at cornerback is one of the most obvious for the Cowboys entering this draft. While Dallas has DaRon Bland in the nickel role and added Cobie Durant in free agency, they still have a need for competition after Shavon Revel had a challenging rookie season. This has thrown a slew of names for the Cowboys to choose from including Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy or Clemson’s Avieon Terrell if they choose to wait until their second first-round pick, but Delane has to be at the top of Jerry Jones’s list.
Delane is the top corner in this year’s draft and it’s not hard to figure out why. According to Pro Football Focus, Delane allowed just 14 catches for 165 scoreless yards with two interceptions and seven pass breakups on 35 targets after transferring from Virginia Tech to LSU last season. His coverage allowed an NFL passer rating of 31.3 and he didn’t have a single penalty on 623 defensive snaps, making him one of the premiere shutdown corners in the nation.
With elite instincts and ability to press opposing receivers, the only question Dallas should be asking is why he would fall. But that answer could lie in his physical talents. Delane wasn’t terrible at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he also didn’t test enough to get a relative athletic score. At 6-feet and 187 pounds, Delane is also smaller by NFL standards and his 4.38-second time in the 40-yard dash is closer to “good enough” than elite.
Simply put, Delane is always in a position to make a play when the ball comes his way. This is something Dallas’s defense was lacking last year as it allowed the second-highest passing yards per attempt (8.1) and the league’s third-lowest interception rate (1.1%) last season. It also takes one of the top players at his position while leaving the 20th overall pick to address the edge rusher problem in a much deeper pool of talent.
If you’re not sold on Delane, perhaps new defensive coordinator Christian Parker might think otherwise. A former passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, he could see something in Delane and it may happen to be one of his former students as NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein compared him to Quinyon Mitchell in his scouting report.
If Parker agrees, Delane could be high on the Cowboys’ draft board. And if teams let him fall out of the top 10, the Cowboys could get the impact player they need at a position that is in desperate shape for a playmaker.
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