9. Kansas City Chiefs: Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU
The Kansas City Chiefs are entering their most brutal offseason of the Patrick Mahomes era. It starts with the fact that Mahomes is recovering from a major knee injury late in the season, but it extends to the fact that the Chiefs are in huge trouble against the salary cap. Couple the fact that they are in salary cap trouble along with not drafting very well over the past handful of years, and you have a recipe for disaster in 2026.
It’s going to require general manager Chris Ballard to do some serious gymnastics, and the coaching of Andy Reid, as well as the player leadership of the veterans who have been to that mountaintop, to get this Chiefs team back on track.
One of the top needs of this Chiefs team is at the cornerback position and getting another playmaker to go along with Trent McDuffie. Mansoor Delane could be a huge pickup for this Kansas City secondary and allow Steve Spagnuolo to stay aggressive with his blitz packages.
10. Cincinnati Bengals: Caleb Downs, SAF, Ohio State
At this point, the Cincinnati Bengals are becoming the most boring team in the 1st round of these 2026 NFL mock draft scenarios. Pretty much every time I put together one of these predictions, it’s difficult for me to justify passing on Caleb Downs in this pick slot for another prospect, even though the Bengals have plenty of other needs.
They could go for an offensive lineman here, they could look for defensive line/edge players, or they could go after a cornerback. But Downs is the best bang for your buck, and he’s not going to have to move very far.
He’s got one of the highest floors of any prospect in this draft class, and would be a massive upgrade for that Cincinnati secondary. Their defense needs as much help as it can get.
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