Did Emmanuel McNeil-Warren get drafted? Why Toledo star safety had surprising 1st-round NFL Draft fate originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was set to be the latest first-round NFL Draft pick out of the University of Toledo.

The standout safety was viewed as one of the three best players at his position in this draft class, along with Caleb Downs and Dillon Thieneman.

Downs went 11th in the first round to the Dallas Cowboys. Thieneman went 25th to the Chicago Bears.

And McNeil-Warren, for whatever reason, didn't get picked at all on Thursday night.

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McNeil-Warren was not drafted in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, which was the only round to take place Thursday night.

The second and third rounds are on Friday, and it likely won't be long before the standout safety is chosen.

This is a hard question to answer, but safety isn't viewed as valuable as some other positions.

Other teams in need of a safety, like the Vikings, took different positions, like in Minnesota's case a defensive tackle.

Things just didn't break right on the draft board for McNeil-Warren.

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This is what ESPN's best available board says about him:

"McNeil-Warren is a natural box safety who has length.He's quick to get downhill and make tackles. He does a good job of setting the edge while playing with physicality and strength at the point of attack. McNeil-Warren is good in coverage, but he'll need to improve in that skill at the next level. He has a knack of showing up around the ball, with eight career forced fumbles and five interceptions."

Sure sounds like a player you'd want on your team.

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