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Dolphins Draft Profile – Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo
Jeff Romance-Imagn Images

Dolphins Draft Profile – Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo

With the potential options for the Miami Dolphins coming into shape, it appears that Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has a real chance of being selected by the team at pick 30. His play on the field can be described by the word ” intense, ” as he possesses elite size and power for the safety position.

Coined “EMW” due to his long name, the Florida native has been tearing up the MAC conference for the last few years. Most recently, he posted over a 90 Pro Football Focus grade through his 13 starts in 2025.

His playstyle has progressively become more of a box safety. He played more than 60% of his snaps “in the box”, meaning aligned as one of the linebackers or close enough to the line of scrimmage to be deemed as one by a metric.

Measuring in at 6 feet and 4 inches tall, EMW doesn’t lack the size profile to play the role of a safety with physicality. Playing downhill is where he excels, similar to the way the Green Bay Packers use one of their safeties on most downs.

What he lacks in athleticism is made up for in football IQ. In 4 years at Toledo, starting in only 3, EMW has logged 9 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions. He has an eye for creating turnovers and comes from a similar defensive back system that the Dolphins will likely incorporate moving forward.

He recorded over 70 tackles in 2025, the most in his collegiate career. Alongside that, he was a downhill playmaker tacking on another career high in 5 tackles for loss.

Is he a realistic selection at 30? Miami is definitely lacking depth at the safety position, as well as any sort of high caliber starter. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has the versatility required to fill in at the starting position in most schemes, but his lack of high-end athleticism and playing at a lower-caliber school.

Miami has been interviewing safeties ahead of the draft, and some highly connected media members have been mocking EMW to Miami at pick 30. His addition through the draft would fill a starting spot. There is also the aspect of the potential a player may reach, and he has a relatively high one. He can play in multiple alignments, he has a history of forcing turnovers and is a physical tackler.

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has the chops to play high level football, and he is a name to watch for the Miami Dolphins. It would be fun to see him playing back in his home state.

This article first appeared on Dolphins Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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