Background

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren played his entire college career at Toledo, a rarity in the transfer portal era, turning down NIL offers from power conferences to stay loyal to the program. He began making starts during his sophomore season in 2023, finishing with 69 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 interceptions, 3 passes defended, and 4 forced fumbles across 14 games. An undisclosed injury cut his 2024 junior season short, limiting him to 8 games with 61 tackles, 1.5 TFL, half a sack, 5 passes defended, an interception, and a forced fumble. He bounced back with a strong senior season in 2025. Career totals: 347 tackles, 10 interceptions, 19 passes defended, and 9 forced fumbles across his time in Toledo, with 966 snaps in the box, 624 at deep safety, and 204 from the slot, plus 17 pass-rushing snaps. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Physical Attributes

McNeil-Warren is a tall, gangly safety. While not the fastest on a track, he is an incredibly smooth mover. For on-field drills during the combine, he was my number one safety with a score of 9.17. He flips his hips with ease and keeps his speed throughout the transition. That smoothness and fluidity are all over his tape too. Plays with a good amount of physicality, but his slender frame somewhat limits him in that arena.

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my S radar charts, you can find more information here

So close to a star! The shape, not McNeil-Warren himself, well, maybe also a little bit of McNeil-Warren himself?

I often talk about how for older players or players who did not play at the top level of CFB, I want to see domination, the radar chart should look really good. This fits that level.

One of the most impressive things not shown on this profile is how EMW only had one penalty called on him in college in over 1800 career snaps. When you add that into the nine forced fumbles and five interceptions he had at Toledo, you can count on big swings going in your favor when he is on the field.

Toledo moved EMW around a lot, but I think his role in the NFL is deep. As you can see above, getting him closer to the line of scrimmage and asking him to play man is not one of his strengths, so take advantage of his strengths as a vision safety. His processing ability is solid and reacts on time to what happens in front of him. When given the entire field to watch. He also made up for defensive lapses by his teammates to cover busted coverages, and is great at staying with receivers trying to run posts or go routes.

I love EMW's work ethic as a run defender. He can sometimes be slow to react to a run play when his assignment was to drop deep, but he comes down into the box with a fury. Some might say a blind fury, because he often seems to guess at which gap he should be at, and does not intuit where the play is going.

Another large component of a safety's game is their tackling, and EMW is just fine at that. His length helps him overcome some inconsistent technique. Though more concerning are the angles and routes he takes to the ball; they are poor and put him in bad positions to make a play. He really needs to clean that up if he wants to become a more multi-area threat in the NFL

Grade and Outlook

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has the size and range you love to see out of a deep-vision safety. Currently, he does not offer a ton of positional versatility, but Jason Candle typically sets his players up well for the NFL. Teams should watch his ability to hold up at the next level, given his injury concerns and more slender frame. If he can, he looks to be a big-play safety for whoever drafts him.

Grade: 6.2 (Late 1st Rounder / Early 2nd Rounder)