Emmanuel McNeil-Warren driven to be 'elite,' expects to be part of 'dominant' safety group

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has been studying Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman for years. With the chance to join them in the Browns' three-safety packages, he knows exactly what people can expect."I say we'll be dominant for real just all around, be able to rotate, play anywhere on the field, in the box, deep end, just ready to make plays," McNeil-Warren said Saturday during rookie minicamp.Justin Jefferson has big plans regarding Carson Schwesinger, Quincy Williams … and other observations from rookie minicampThe Browns already had established starting safeties in Delpit and Hickman but couldn't resist adding McNeil-Warren. General manager Andrew Berry traded up to No. 58 in the second round last month to get the 6-foot-3, 213-pounder out of the University of Toledo.Delpit and Hickman are in the final years of their contracts, so McNeil-Warren provides part of a potential succession plan. For 2026, new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg will have three talented safeties to employ in a variety of ways."I've been on the guys a lot. I've been on them since they was in college," McNeil-Warren said. "Grant Delpit, I've been watching him since his LSU days when he had No. 7, No. 9. I've been watching Hickman when he was at Ohio State because one of our corners coaches that came to Toledo, he used to coach him and he's always putting on a game and telling me to watch him and see how he sees the game."McNeil-Warren's role and how he fits with Delpit and Hickman are far from being determined. The message from Rutenberg and pass game coordinator Ephraim Banda has been simple."Be able to come in and impact the team right away," McNeil-Warren said. "To me, just be in that playbook, learn the playbook as fast as I can so I can be on the field and they can trust me on the field."The early impressions have been strong."Long, fast, anticipating, being physical, got unbelievable range," coach Todd Monken said. "He's another one of those guys that has a smile on his face every day, loves football. It's what we saw when we met with him at the combine, when he came here."I think the sky's the limit. He wants to be an elite football player and he goes about it the right way every day."QB Taylen Green stands out on field, among QBs: 'I really don't think there's anybody like me'Linebacker Justin Jefferson, a fifth-round pick out of Alabama, watched McNeil-Warren when he was at Toledo and recognized "a great ballplayer." He liked what he saw over the weekend in Berea."He's definitely a real smart guy, real high effort, high energy," Jefferson said. "Really gets to that ball. Gets the ball out."McNeil-Warren paired the intangibles with 4.52 speed and ideal height to total 207 tackles, 11 for loss, five interceptions, eight forced fumbles and 15 passes defensed."It gives me a lot of advantages because I can use my length to get off the blocks, to get there faster, just to shed off of people," he said of his size. "So I appreciate God for giving me this ability, being long and tall, so I'm going to use it to the best of my ability."Fano brothers relish opportunity to play together again, share tales of fighting, competing growing upHe said he can play center field or at the line of scrimmage and pointed to experience."Coming into college, I started as a strong, then I switched to free," he said. "They tried me in nickel during practices, too. So being versatile helped me a lot to be on the field faster."Safety is having a bit of a renaissance in the NFL. As offenses go with more tight ends, defensive coordinators have responded with more safeties. They must be able to handle the deep part of the field, cover tight ends and running backs, fit against the run and blitz.Monken came from Baltimore, where safety Kyle Hamilton has become a two-time All-Pro by making game-changing plays all over the field."Kyle could gain 10 or 20 pounds and play Will linebacker if he wanted to," Monken said. "A lot like the young man that's from South Carolina at the Seahawks (Nick Emmanwori). Very similar kind of a hybrid position that allows you to do a number of things with them."The more versatility you have in your position groups, I think you can keep those guys on the field and move them around as chess pieces. I think it's something we're looking forward to try and figure out where we can utilize him."Hamilton, Emmanwori and the Chargers' Derwin James are McNeil-Warren's favorites to study."Just being able to watch all their games and try to bring a little piece of each one of them to my game, be the best," he said.He appreciates the growing prominence of his position."I feel like being the safety, it's like the quarterback," he said. "So be able to communicate, know everything, be able to get the guys in the right spot and just be able to learn faster, be able to just trigger faster, too. You've got to make sure everybody doing their right job, everybody's on point."McNeil-Warren said he's excited to meet the defensive veterans, including Myles Garrett, so he can learn their approach to the game and improve. He knows what he plans to show them when they take the field together."I feel like you've got to bring your all," he said. "I feel like this is when you show them you can compete with anybody in the world and you can go out there and be a dawg. "The post Emmanuel McNeil-Warren driven to be 'elite,' expects to be part of 'dominant' safety group first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.