The University of Toledo recently said goodbye to longtime head coach Jason Candle, who will now take over the head coaching job at UConn. It ends an era of unprecedented success under Candle who had worked as an assistant coach for the Rockets for seven years before occupying the top job for the last 10.
In the 1990s, Toledo produced only five NFL picks. The next decade produced only six. In Candle’s decade-long tenure, 11 Toledo players have been drafted. Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell became only the school’s second Day 1 pick and its first since 1993 two years ago. He should be very quickly succeeded this year by projected first-round safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
A Tampa-native, McNeil-Warren expected to play offense at Lakewood HS (FL), where his father worked as wide receivers coach. His coaches, instead, tasked him with playing safety and cornerback as a freshman. Shortly before the winter break of his sophomore year, McNeil-Warren received his first scholarship offer from Candle at Toledo. Shortly into the spring semester, offers from two more Group of 5 schools came through before Miami (FL) came in as the only Florida school to offer him. A year later, after his junior season, Kansas State, Indiana, East Carolina, and Maryland through their hats in the ring.
Multiple injuries in his senior season caused many schools to slowly back off their offers, but Candle and Co. stayed locked in with McNeil-Warren and, ultimately, landed his commitment as a result. McNeil-Warren played sparingly as a true freshman but took over as a standout starter in only his second year with the Rockets. Playing all over the field, he filled up the stat sheet, recording 69 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, three passes defensed, and four forced fumbles. His junior year production was hindered due to a five-game absence caused by injury, and he briefly considered transferring for his final year of school before ultimately opting to stay with the school that initially stuck with him as a high school recruit.
Coming back for his senior year, McNeil-Warren lit up the stat sheet. In his final year of college play, he set or matched career highs in total tackles (77), tackles for loss (5.5), sacks (0.5), interceptions (2, one returned for a touchdown), passes defensed (5), and fumble recoveries (2), while tacking on three more forced fumbles. The stat sheet alone tells a huge portion of McNeil-Warren’s story as a player, depicting a disruptive player who can be pesky in coverage and downright dangerous to ballcarriers with loose grips.
Unlike the two other likely first-round safety prospects, McNeil-Warren boasts a tall (6-foot-3), long, broad-shouldered frame. Despite his lanky visage, McNeil-Warren is a smooth runner with with excellent body control and quick hips. He matches up well against tight ends but can use his length and strength to keep smaller, quicker wideouts from getting to too much space and separation. He understands his role on the defense and won’t often be caught out of position, playing with discipline and improved instincts with each year as a starter. He can lay down big hits but, more often, collects himself in front of tacklers to stay in front of them and, often, attempt to punch out the ball.
Unfortunately, these varied levels of aggression at contact can lead to the occasional missed or broken tackles. McNeil-Warren ranges the defense and finds success off great anticipation but could stand to improve in closer coverage. Also, his history of injuries at both the high school and college levels do warrant some consideration.
Most draft rankings have been pretty consistent with the safety position, ranking Ohio State’s Caleb Downs as the only potential top 10 prospect at the position with McNeil-Warren and Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman neck-and-neck about 10-15 picks later. Dane Brugler of The Athletic has Thieneman as S2 and the 18th-best overall prospect with McNeil-Warren as S3 at 23rd overall. Todd McShay of The Ringer is a little lower on both players, putting Thieneman at 21st overall and McNeil-Warren at 32. Daniel Jeremiah, though, of NFL Network is one of the brave few ranking McNeil-Warren (15th overall) over Thieneman (16th).
The injury history may cause concern, but McNeil-Warren’s size-speed combo with elite hip mobility and a knack for punching out fumbles makes him a very likely option to become the third Toledo player ever taken in the first round of the NFL draft. If he can stay healthy at the next level, McNeil-Warren could rival some of the recent success stories for tall, versatile young safeties like Nick Emmanwori and Kyle Hamilton before him.