LSU Football's Top Cornerback Reveals Major Career News Amid 2026 NFL Draft Buzz

LSU Tigers cornerback Mansoor Delane has officially declared for the 2026 NFL Draft after a historic season in Baton Rouge, he told On3 Sports on Thursday.

Delane made a clean sweep of first-team All-America honors this week after he was selected to the Football Writers Association of American team on Thursday - becoming one of 13 players nationally to reach unanimous All-America status in 2025.

A transfer from Virginia Tech, Delane quickly made his impact felt for the Tiger defense with an interception and three passes defended in his LSU debut against Clemson. Delane would go on to tally 45 tackles and lead the SEC in passes defended (13) and passes broken up (11).

A starter in 11 games in 2025, Delane made his mark as a lock-down cornerback for the Tigers with opponents rarely throwing in his direction. In 358 pass coverage snaps, Delane allowed just 13 receptions all season for 147 yards and six first downs.

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Mansoor Delane is a @TheFWAA first team All-American pic.twitter.com/aM3PxBNKam
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 18, 2025

He didn’t’ allow a passing touchdown and was targeted only 9.8 percent of the time. Opponents had a completion percentage success rate of 37.1 percent on passes thrown in his direction.

As a unit, Delane’s defensive prowess helped the Tigers lead the SEC in pass efficiency defense, interceptions (17), passes defended (67) and passes broken up (50).

LSU was also the only team in the SEC to have more interceptions than touchdown passes allowed as the Tigers gave up only 10 passing TDs all season. The 10 passing TDs allowed are the fewest for an LSU defense since yielding nine in 2016.

The Tiger defense, on 417 passing situations, allowed only 34 completions of 20-plus yards, including 12 that went 30 or more yards, which ranked No. 3 in the league.

LSU star CB Mansoor Delane has declared for the NFL Draft, per @Hayesfawcett3
pic.twitter.com/wPm7a4mSPx
— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) December 19, 2025

Now, after one season in Baton Rouge, Delane has further cemented his status as a potential first-round draft selection next spring with NFL evaluators salivating at the potential he attains.

Delane is the first member of LSU's 2025 roster to formally make an announcement with intentions of entering the 2026 NFL Draft pool.

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