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Emmanuel McNeil-Warren finding his groove as rookie on Browns defense
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- Emmanuel McNeil-Warren finding his groove as rookie on Browns defense
BEREA ― It wouldn't be accurate to say Browns rookie safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has officially arrived. That would presume a finished product.
However, the player the Browns believed they were getting when they traded back into the second round of April's draft to take the former University of Toledo standout at No. 58 overall has started to show up with some regularity. Certainly, McNeil-Warren has gotten to a point where the Browns defensive staff believes in him enough that he's a significant part of their game plan.
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McNeil-Warren played on 50% of the Browns' defensive snaps in their Week 4 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 36 defensive snaps were a season high for the rookie, who knew going into the game the Steelers' tendencies were going to lead to more opportunities.
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"Yes, sir," McNeil-Warren said this week, as the 3-1 Browns prepare for their Oct. 11 game at the New York Jets. "My coach, he let me know they run a lot of 12 personnel out here and stuff. So he gave me the heads up that we'll be quarter most of the time for real."
McNeil-Warren's progression into that role in a nationally-television prime-time game speaks to the growth he's undergone after not being able to do much on-the-field work in the offseason program due to a nagging injury. Save for a slight drop-off between Weeks 1 and 2, it's been a steady climb in defensive snaps for him.
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The Browns played a lot more with cornerback Myles Harden in the slot in the opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars, along with more three-linebacker base looks with Easton Mascarenas-Arnold on the field. That kept McNeil-Warren to just 14 defensive snaps, which was 25% of Cleveland's total.
It dipped to just 10 defensive snaps in the Week 2 win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , which was just 15%. However, it doubled to 20 snaps, which was 26%, in the Week 3 win over the Carolina Panthers before the break-through against the Steelers.
"Just playing with more and more confidence," Browns coach Todd Monken said. "I think that's the biggest thing. It's been nice to be able to bring him along slowly, I think is probably the best way to put it, with Rocket (Ronnie Hickman) and Grant (Delpit) back there. And then as we've been able to move him forward, be able to build confidence. And obviously the better he plays, the more his role is going to expand. But it's been fun to watch."
That confidence has come from a comfortability. Any coach or player would tell you that the less you have to think about what you're doing on a play-by-play basis, the more fluid you can play because it's become instinctual instead of robotic.
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McNeil-Warren got plenty of work in the meeting room and while watching the team drills during the offseason program, but that's not the same as actually getting out there and doing the drills themselves. So there was a learning curve that he had to climb up in order to feel confident within the scheme he was learning.
The last person who would say he's completely climbed that learning curve would be McNeil-Warren. However, he knows what he's feeling now compared to even the two games in Florida to open the season.
"Been very comfortable," McNeil-Warren said. "Just going out there, knowing it's just football for real. You played it your whole life, Just being out there with the guys, make sure they trust me and stuff. So it's just football and a point for real. So just being able to play football with my brothers, being on the field with my team, trying to get a win."
That comfortability, as previously stated, has led to McNeil-Warren's natural abilities to start to come out in games. There's no two plays against Pittsburgh that better demonstrate that than the two times he was able to break up what seemed like sure completions from quarterback Aaron Rodgers to wide receiver DK Metcalf.
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Both plays were somewhat similar, with Metcalf running a crossing route and McNeil-Warren coming up from a deep safety position to time the hit perfectly to dislodge the football. The first forced a punt with 10:46 remaining in the second quarter in a tie game; the second came with 9:33 left in the third quarter, a second-down break-up that led to a third-down sack by Adin Huntington.
"Just really timing it right for real," McNeil-Warren said. "I played wide receiver when I was young too. So just tracking the ball for real, knowing where the ball placement was going to be at for real."
It wasn't a flawless night for the rookie. The teaching moment for McNeil-Warren, though, could've been extremely damaging had the rest of the game played out a different way.
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The Steelers were facing fourth-and-10 from the Cleveland 11, and ran tight end Darnell Washington on a seam route into the end zone. The problem for McNeil-Warren was that he got his arm wrapped around the waist of the big tight end, drawing a pass interference penalty that put Pittsburgh in a first-and-goal situation from the Browns 3.
The next play, Rodgers hit tight end Pat Freiermuth for a touchdown, then ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game with 1:42 remaining in regulation. The Browns, though, would move down and get a go-ahead 56-yard Andre Szmyt field goal with 10 seconds left to get the win, and make the teaching moment for McNeil-Warren a lot more digestable.
"My learning point for that, just I say probably not too handsy you got to say for real," McNeil-Warren said. "At the end of the day, the ref will call what he wants to call. You gotta play the next play."
Considering the way McNeil-Warren has played, there's going to be plenty of "next plays" for him going forward.
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren finding his groove as rookie on Browns defense
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