When the Virginia Tech football team had a mass exodus out of Blacksburg following a rough 2024, it wasn't surprising. A team loaded with talent underachieved and needed a win over Virginia Thanksgiving Weekend just to become bowl eligible.
That was a rough ending to a season that many had the Hokies pegged as a dark horse for the new 12-team College Football Playoff. During the exodus through the Transfer Portal, one player who left was a huge loss: cornerback Mansoor Delane. Instead of opting for the NFL Draft last April in Green Bay, he hit the portal.
In the portal, to nobody's surprise, he became a big target of a lot of schools before he landed in the SEC at LSU with Brian Kelly. After a year with the Tigers, Delane is off to the NFL, and on Thursday in Pittsburgh, he was a first-round selection, No. 6 overall, going to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Former Virginia Tech cornerback Mansoor Delane was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs
It's going to be frustrating for Virginia Tech to hear his name called and LSU mentioned, but that's the way things fall now with the Transfer Portal and NIL. In 2025 with the Tigers, he registered 45 tackles, 28 solo, and had two interceptions. He had a huge game-clinching interception at Clemson in Week 1 that was a big win for LSU. He certainly raised his draft stock with the Tigers.
In his three years at Virginia Tech, Delane was a tackling machine. He had 38 in 2022 with two forced fumbles and a pick, before coming up with back-to-back seasons of 54 tackles in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, he had four interceptions for the Hokies and forced a pair of fumbles. The Silver Springs, Maryland native should slide right into the rotation in training camp and start as soon as the fall for the Chiefs. He'll be with former Virginia Tech star Chamarri Connor.
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