{"id":861636,"date":"2026-04-08T21:51:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/861636\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T21:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:51:22","slug":"steelers-to-host-physical-downhill-safety-for-pre-draft-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/861636\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers to Host Physical Downhill Safety for Pre-Draft Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026 NFL Draft<\/a>\u2022Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghCredit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has a pre-draft visit scheduled with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McNeil-Warren is currently visiting the Miami Dolphins. He has also visited with the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n

McNeil-Warren has a strong chance to be a first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McNeil-Warren, who stands at 6-foot-3 1\/2, 201 pounds, ran a 4.52 at the NFL Combine. He also ran a 1.55 in the 10-yard split, posted a 35.5\u2032\u201d in the vertical jump and 10\u2032 2\u2033 in the broad jump. McNeul-Warren has 32 1\/8\u2019\u2019 arms and 9 1\/4\u2019\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n

McNeil-Warren is the latest underrated gem from Toledo<\/a>. He wears a bunch of different hats in the secondary, with good range combined with natural instincts to cover ground in the deep part of the field, but also the size and physicality to bang in the box.<\/p>\n

He was named second-team All-American in 2025, recording 77 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sack, five pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions, one of which was a pick six.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong, downhill safety capable of bolstering a team\u2019s run defense and playing enforcer over the middle. McNeil-Warren is most valuable when playing near the line of scrimmage or in robber positioning,\u201d Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote<\/a> in a scouting report. \u201cHe anticipates well in coverage and is quick to close on receivers but will need to be protected by scheme to prevent speed mismatches. He\u2019s urgent in run support and has a feel for slipping blocks\/meeting runners early in the carry. He\u2019s a rangy tackler, but needs to quiet his feet when diagnosing and flowing downhill to tackle. McNeil-Warren might be pigeon-holed schematically but he\u2019s good at his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan Plocher of Pro Football Focus<\/a> has the Steelers landing McNeil-Warren at No. 21 overall in his latest mock draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Steelers have been busy addressing roster needs this offseason, trading with the Indianapolis Colts for wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and signing free-agent cornerback Jamel Dean. In 2025, the Steelers earned a team 54.5 PFF coverage grade, so adding McNeil-Warren at pick No. 21 should continue to help address a defensive weak point,\u201d Plocher wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, McNeil-Warren\u2019s 91.9 PFF overall grade ranked first among all FBS safeties, as did his 92.0 PFF coverage grade. For his career, he logged 966 box snaps, 204 slot snaps and 624 free safety snaps. McNeil-Warren is also an asset in run support, having posted an 83.2 PFF run-defense grade in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers signed safety Jaquan Brisker<\/a> to a one-year deal, so he\u2019s not a long-term answer at the position. In addition, DeShone Elliot<\/a>t is coming off an ACL injury and Jalen Ramsey<\/a> is 31 and his future with the team is unclear.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> Emmanuel McNeil-Warren<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a> Toledo<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft\u2022Steelers News Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has a pre-draft visit scheduled with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4955,52670,7,6,520,57,2360,426,2395,19480],"class_list":{"0":"post-861636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-emmanuel-mcneil-warren","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers","16":"tag-steelers-news","17":"tag-toledo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116371305635402325","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}