The Cleveland Browns got aggressive for the first time in this year’s NFL Draft as one of the top safeties in the draft fell through the second round.
Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was projected to be a first-round pick in this year’s draft, but as night one came to an end, he was still on the board. If he didn’t go in the first, surely he would go in the second. The clock ticked, and picks kept coming in, none with McNeil-Warren’s name on the card.
Then, the Browns saw their opportunity. At pick 58, they struck a deal with the San Francisco 49ers to move back up into the round to select one of the best safeties on the board. So who is this star MAC player, and why is he so high on everyone’s board? Let’s find out.
1. 0 to 100 very quickly
NFL’s Next Gen Stats had McNeil-Warren as the 15th-ranked prospect available in this year’s draft. He is as athletic as they come and is a difference maker on the field. He has the fastest acceleration out of any safety prospect in the draft, as he covers 6.39 yards per step.
2. Tackling machine
McNeil-Warren played in 48 total games in his time in Toledo and notched a total of 214 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss. That’s a career average of 4.5 tackles per game from the first time he stepped on the field until the last.
3 Perfect fit for modern-day NFL
Andrew Berry spoke last week that in today’s day and age in the NFL, defenses are becoming “positionless” to the point that defensive backs have to tackle like linebackers and linebackers have to cover like defensive backs. McNeil-Warren gives the Browns the proper versatility that they need on defense to be a guy who can do it all.
4 Derrick Henry, look out!
McNeil-Warren was on the Kay Adams podcast a few weeks ago and said that he is looking forward to hitting Derrick Henry. He said that he loves the challenge of trying to tackle someone bigger and that Henry presents that. McNeil-Warren will get that opportunity twice a year now that he lands in Cleveland.
5. Loyal to his Toledo Rockets
It’s rare that a player as good as McNeil-Warren stays at one school, especially in the MAC. The McNeil-Warren hype has been real for several years now, and before his senior year, he had the opportunity to go to a bigger school. He turned it down, stayed in Toledo, and wrote his story there.
Cleveland really grabbed one of the top safeties in the draft after getting the top tackle and two of the top five wide receivers in the draft. McNeil-Warren is a cherry on top for what has been a really good start to the draft for Cleveland, so far.
A lot of work is still left to do.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns NFL Draft: 5 things about new safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren
Reporting by Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
