Cleveland Browns Trade Up in 2026 Draft and Keep a Former Toledo Rocket in Ohio
Trading up for an additional second-round pick, the Cleveland Browns drafted former Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren with the 58th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Browns sent over the 70th and 107th picks to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the pick that was used on McNeil-Warren and the 152nd pick. McNeil-Warren marks the fourth player taken by general manager Andrew Berry, who was described by draft analysts as a potential first-round talent in four straight selections. Cleveland’s rookie class from a year ago was highly lauded, and now it seems Berry is drafting to keep his job and catch lightning in a bottle twice. This also marks the first defensive selection for Cleveland, as they previously spent their other first-rounders on offensive line help in former Utah Utes, Spencer Fano, and wide receivers in KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston.
In an era of transfer portal movement and NIL deals, McNeil-Warren stayed at the Mid-American Conference powerhouse that is Toledo for the entirety of his collegiate career. The 22-year-old started playing in 2022, but did not totally burst onto the scene until 2023. That year, the Tampa native tied for third in the FBS in recorded forced fumbles with four, and played in all 14 possible games, recording 69 tackles and a pair of interceptions. In 2024, McNeil-Warren missed five games due to injury, but he still managed to take home 61 tackles and two turnovers. Last season, he was named to both the All-MAC First Team and was selected to the Associated Press All-American Third Team. Making 12 starts across 13 games for the Rockets, McNeil-Warren locked down 77 tackles and led the team with a trio of forced fumbles. The marquee feature of McNeil-Warren’s time at Toledo was the ability to rack up defensive stats and turnovers, as he was the anchor of a Rocket defense that went to two MAC Championships and was victorious in his freshman season in 2022.
When lined up near the line of scrimmage or stopping runners dead in their tracks downfield, McNeil-Warren is at his best. In football, the safety position is only asked to manage a handful of things, but the former Rocket does all of those things well. McNeil-Warren can force balls out of the hands of receivers trying to make plays, and he can make plays of his own, as he recorded five interceptions in his four-year career. In terms of what he’ll need to fix to translate his game to the NFL, a good dose of footwork training and back-end coverage assistance will help McNeil-Warren in the long run. All in all, Berry has seemingly drafted four future plus starters, and McNeil-Warren is certainly one of them.
