The more you dig into Emmanuel McNeil-Warren’s college tape and numbers, the more impressive the Cleveland Browns second round pick becomes.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Ambassador shared a statistic about McNeil-Warren that puts his 2025 season at Toledo in a remarkable context.
“Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S. In 2025, the Toledo S posted a 91.8 PFF Coverage Grade, 2nd among 915 qualifying safeties. McNeil-Warren was selected with the 58th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft,” Pro Football Hall of Fame Ambassador wrote.
EMMANUEL MCNEIL-WARREN, S
In 2025, the @ToledoFB S, posted a 91.8 @PFF Coverage Grade – 2nd among 915 qualifying safeties. McNeil-Warren was selected with the #58 pick in the 2026 @NFL Draft (Per PFF) #DawgPound #Browns #Cleveland #NFL #NFLX #nfldraftday #NFLDraft #NFLNews pic.twitter.com/OUwCXbgkKp— Pro Football Hall of Fame Ambassador (@PFHOFAmbassador) May 3, 2026
This is exactly what Mel Kiper Jr. was talking about when he said he was surprised McNeil-Warren slid that far.
A 91.8 PFF coverage grade is not a number that happens by accident. That reflects a player who consistently made the right reads, got himself in the right position, contested throws at the catch point, and made opposing quarterbacks pay for targeting his area of the field. Those instincts and that awareness in coverage are exactly the kind of traits that translate from college to the professional level, and they are qualities that new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg is going to be able to work with immediately.
Remember that Andrew Berry talked all spring about his desire to deploy three safety packages and positionless hybrid defenders in the Browns’ defense. McNeil-Warren graded out as one of the two best coverage safeties in the entire country last season. The fit could not be more perfect.
PFF also called McNeil-Warren a steal after day 2 of the draft. Now we know exactly why. A 91.8 coverage grade is the kind of number that makes you wonder how this player was available at 58 in the first place.
Berry went and got him. That is why the Browns walked out of Pittsburgh with an A+ draft grade and class that the football world cannot stop raving about.
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