Mac Delana, a wide receiver from Fresno State, is the Chiefs’ camp crush
The passion may end with the final summer sunset, when the leaves turn gold and the air cools, like all good training camp crushes. However, it is June at the moment.
Our world seems to be full of limitless possibilities as the light shines brightly in the sky. One such possibility is that the wide receiver we have been looking for our entire lives isn’t a 6-foot-2, 225-pound blue-chip first-round pick from a Power Five school.
Rather, it’s a Fresno State flier who is 5’10”, 176 pounds, and has enough pomade in his hair to run the Sunglass Hut at Oak Park Mall or join a boy band.
I’m referring about Mac Dalena, a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs who was not selected in the draft and is a free agency. He played in the Mountain West, is undersized, and was not invited to the East-West Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl, or even the NFL Combine.
I continued to observe him, though.
His potential as a bottom-of-the-roster player or even someone the Chiefs can store on the practice squad and turn into a true special-teams contributor made me leave with Lady Gaga-style eyes.
Originally from Fresno, Dalena chose to play with the Bulldogs despite being a three-star recruit out of San Joaquin Memorial High School. He was ranked 185th in California and 250th nationwide among wide receivers in the 2020 class.
At the time, his athletic profile wasn’t very noteworthy. In high school, he weighed only 159 pounds, had a 33-inch vertical, and ran a 40-yard dash in 4.59 seconds.
He did, however, score 1,060 yards and 17 touchdowns on 58 receptions. By 2020, when he was a senior, his highlight reel was quite entertaining to watch.
At Fresno State, the good times continued.
Dalena gained five inches to his vertical, put on twenty pounds of muscle, and somehow shaved a whopping. He missed his 40 time by 23 seconds.
Dalena, a breakout standout in her final year, dominated Mountain West opponents at Arthur Bryant’s, with 64 receptions for 1,065 yards and eight touchdowns.
In fact, he outran weaker players on huge plays, which accounted for a large amount of his output. But his work underneath, especially in the slot, really caught my attention. Dalena has demonstrated his ability to line up at all three receiver positions.
He is the type of quarterback-friendly receiver who never gives up on a route and always works back to the ball when things go wrong. He also has a natural feel for soft zones and a talent for getting open.
Dalena is tough-minded and battles for extra yards despite her diminutive size. He works better on 50/50 balls than you might think, has great hands, and exhibits the kind of recklessness that makes him dependable in traffic.
He has that extra gear after the catch, along with the start-stop speed that makes him a real threat when he has the ball in his hands.
Last season, he played his best game against Michigan. The fact that he only had 67 receiving yards at the end doesn’t convey the whole tale.
Mikey Keene, the quarterback, made two interceptions during the game, including a game-ending pick-six in the final quarter. Away from the play, he also had two additional interceptions ruled back on defensive penalties.
But worst of all?
After Dalena completely destroyed second-round draft pick Will Johnson with a dirty double move to the outside, Keene missed him wide open in the end zone. He was beaten by Dalena, but Keene tossed it to the incorrect shoulder.
Keene missed Dalena again later in the game on a touchdown pass that should have been scored, choosing instead to check it down into the flat, where it was broken up.
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