By the nature of the position he plays, coverage skills are paramount. And it should come as no surprise that the consensus No. 1 cornerback prospect for next month’s NFL Draft was graded as the second-best in coverage among power-conference corners by Pro Football Focus.
What perhaps might come as a surprise, however, is that that particular player does not consider coverage skills to be the best part of his game.
What does LSU’s Mansoor Delane, then, believe is?
“I’d say my physicality,” Delane said from the NFL Combine last week in Indianapolis.
“I like to show up in the running game as a corner. Sometimes that goes unnoticed, but I take that personally — being physical.”
So do the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have always prioritized size, physicality and tackling ability from their cornerbacks moreso than most teams.
As such, the 6-foot, 187-pound Delane would look good in black and gold. Sure enough, a contingent from the Steelers deployed one of their limited number of formal sitdown interviews with Delane during the first day they could at the combine.
There’s little doubt the Steelers would love to be able to add Delane to their roster as a perfect complement to Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback. The problem is that Delane is expected to be long gone by the time the 21st pick comes along — the spot where the Steelers are slotted to select as things stand seven weeks before the draft.
Like many of the most respected draft analysts, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has Delane as his No. 1 cornerback. Jeremiah rates Delane as the No. 8 overall prospect.
“He’s a fluid mover,” Jeremiah said on a recent conference call with media. “He can really see things top down and drive and make plays on the football.
“I got a little bored when I was watching him, quite honestly, because teams just stopped throwing in his direction. But I thought he’s someone that’s a loose, fluid, smooth athlete with toughness and is scheme-diverse.”
Delane was a unanimous All American and first-team all-SEC last season, his first for LSU after three at Virginia Tech. According to LSU data, over the past two seasons (23 games) alone Delane accumulated six interceptions, 24 passes defended, 18 pass breakups, two forced fumbles — and 99 tackles (60 solo).
“You know, if I had the choice, I’d (have) played middle linebacker in college,” Delane said. “I just love physicality, I love tackling, I love being in the box. So, being able to just kind of bring those attributes over to safety, and being a corner, it just makes it easy.
“A lot of corners might be scared to tackle, but I love it.”
That skillset provided a degree of versatility for Delane’s college coaches. The past two seasons, per PFF he lined up 120 times (an average of more than five snaps per game) as an in-the-box hybrid safety. This in addition to deployment in the slot/nickel, at times, in 2025.
Of course, Delane is considered a high-pedigree enough prospect that it would be foolish for whichever NFL drafts him to spend too much time taking him away from what he does best — press-man up on the boundary.
Though he is expected to be long gone by the time the 21st pick is called on the North Shore on April 23, the Steelers are armed with plenty of extra picks and could choose to use that capital to trade up in the first round.
It’s more likely, though, that if they do that it will be for a quarterback. The Steelers are, however, widely expected to add a cornerback at some point in the draft and probably even by the end of Day 2.
It probably won’t be Delane, whose seemingly lone competition to be the top CB off the board is Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy.
“I’m confident in my ability,” Delane said. “I’m a guy who I think soaks up knowledge. I’m just ready to be a sponge to all those guys in the NFL and just learn as much as I can.”
Moments later, Delane let it be known where he believes he should be drafted.
“Why I’m the best corner in the class?” he said, repeating a question. “Put the film on.”