We continue our 2026 NFL Draft preview of draft prospects that could interest the Dallas Cowboys. Today we are looking at Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren
Safety
Toledo Rockets
Senior
3-star recruit
6’4”
201 lbs
In 2022, at Toledo, McNeil-Warren was mostly a special teams and depth player. He appeared in 13 games with one start and recorded seven tackles plus a forced fumble.
In 2023, he broke out as an impact safety with splash plays. He registered 69 tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, and had multiple high-leverage games. He played most notably versus Western Michigan with a career-high of 13 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble, and two pass breakups.
In 2024, he was on pace for an even bigger year before an injury ended his season early. He made 61 tackles even though he did not play in the final five games, but did have standout performances like his 14 tackle game versus UMass, 12 tackles at Northern Illinois, and a monster line against Western Kentucky with seven tackles, one INT, one forced fumble, and one PBU. He was leading Toledo by October with 43 tackles.
In 2025, he put everything together and played like a top-tier NFL draft safety. His season stat line finished with 77 tackles, 5.5 TFL, three forced fumbles, two interceptions, and six pass breakups. His highlight moment came with a 37-yard pick-six versus Western Kentucky, a season-high 13 tackles versus Washington State, forcing two fumbles against Western Michigan, and a game at Kentucky where he forced and recovered a fumble on the same play. The awards came flowing with First-Team All-MAC honors, a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist, Second-Team All-American, and Group of 6 Defensive Player of the Year.
2025 Statistics
654 Defensive Snaps
77 Total Tackles
5.5 TFL
6 Pass Breakups
2 Interceptions
1 INT TD
3 Forced Fumbles
2 Fumble Recoveries
13 Missed Tackles
40% Reception Percentage Allowed
1 TD Allowed
50.3 Passer Rating Allowed
1 Penalty
Snap by Position
Defensive line: 1%
Box: 61%
Free Safety: 30%
Slot: 5%
Corner: 2%
NFL Combine/Pro Day
2025: First-Team All-MAC
Second-Team All-American
Group of 6 Defensive Player of the Year
Overall- 82.3
Speed- 71
Acceleration- 70
Agility- 64
Strength- 81
Tackling- 72
Run Defense- 81
Man Coverage- 80
Zone Coverage- 75
Discipline- 98
Covers ground efficiently in split-safety looks
Can drive downhill to cut off throws angles
Instinctive trigger and arrives with urgency
Physical, reliable tackler
Consistently shows up in run support
Rare forced-fumble production for a safety
Competes through receivers, plays the ball in the air, and finishes picks
Can play deep, rotate down as a robber, and match tight ends
Big-game impact and repeatedly shows up with splash plays
High motor and tone-setter mentality
Long-speed issues means he will struggle to be a true full-time single-high free safety
Man coverage can get stressed by sudden breaks and faster receivers
Over-aggressive tendencies that see him trigger too fast, overrun lanes, or take poor angles at times
Open-field tackling consistency needs work
Struggles to disengage from climbing linemen
Pre-snap movement can be messy that can causes false steps and delayed triggers
Lean and high-cut frame will need more functional strength if he’s going to live closer to the box at the next level.
McNeil-Warren fits best as a downhill strong safety that lives in two-high shells and rotates him into the box as the robber, where his trigger, physicality and turnover creation show up. You maximize him by letting him play close to the line on early downs and using him as a tight-end eraser while keeping the true single-high workload selective.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren projects as a long, explosive, turnover-creating safety whose tape is defined by range, violence, and ball disruption. He can drive from depth to the sideline, trigger downhill with real pop as a tackler, and consistently get involved at the catch point while also forcing fumbles as a true tone-setter defender. The NFL translation questions are the usual ones for an aggressive playmaker on whether he can ensure his angles and tackling efficiency stay consistent, and proving he can handle the discipline and spacing demands of full-time deep middle work if a team asks him to be a true single-high rather than a split-safety or rotation piece.
PRO COMPARISON
Justin Reid
BTB OVERALL RANKING
CONSENSUS OVERALL RANKING
26th
(Consensus ranking based on the average ranking from 90 major scoring services, including BTB)