In Week 1, nothing went well for the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland was dismantled 34-10 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cleveland's offense could not get in sync and the defense was gashed by the pass and run.
It was hardly the opening act Todd Monken was seeking in his first game as Browns head coach. Week 2 is not going to be an easy task for Cleveland, either, with another road tilt in Florida at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Brown Baker Mayfield.
If Cleveland is going to get on track sooner rather than later, it’s likely going to be from the work of its defense. Cleveland will be out to prove it's much more in the mold of its defensive performance for most of the 2025 season, and not what it showed in Week 1 of its first meaningful game after the Myles Garrett trade.
The Browns do have some new faces on that side of the ball, though, and one of those that could prove notable is promising rookie Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
The 6-foot-3.5, 201-pound defensive back could have a chess-piece-type skill set for Cleveland. However, it remains to be seen how long it's going to take before that plays out week-to-week.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren's versatility should eventually force the Browns' hand
McNeil-Warren was a player Cleveland traded up for in the second round as a prospect with a versatile skill set. In his last three collegiate seasons at Toledo, he posted 207 combined tackles, five interceptions, and 11 tackles for loss.
McNeil-Warren demonstrated quite a feel for taking the ball away from opponents in his time in college. His instincts and feel for the ball were often on display, as evidenced by the nine forced fumbles he accumulated over the course of his tenure there.
Those things aside, the youngster probably will need to wait his turn for at least some time further into the season to regularly garner a considerable snap count for Cleveland on defense. McNeil-Warren is not a player who will likely factor in at the nickel spot much, and Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman II are firmly Cleveland’s starting safeties.
McNeil-Warren played in only 25 percent of Cleveland's defensive snaps in Week 1, which was telling, at least from a short-term standpoint. On special teams, by comparison, McNeil-Warren was in for 52 percent of the snaps. It remains to be seen if he can potentially match up with slot receiver-type players, as that's not really something he was tasked with doing at Toledo.
Granted, one of Cleveland's top corners in Tyson Campbell is currently questionable (ankle) for Cleveland's game at Tampa Bay on Sunday, and perhaps if the veteran were to miss time, the Browns could feature McNeil-Warren more. If slot corner Myles Harden were to continue to have issues, that could potentially lead to Cleveland going to McNeil-Warren as a potential solution.
Regardless, it's tough to forecast if McNeil-Warren can regularly be in those areas, given how he was more in the box at Toledo and getting downhill with physicality among his best attributes.
It would be intriguing to see if the Browns can find ways to involve McNeil-Warren in a hybrid linebacker/safety role, given that he could be a player they match up with against tight ends or at times bigger wideouts. With his ability to bring down a variety of players with force, he could seemingly hold up against the run, too.
Still, it’s likely going to take McNeil-Warren some time into the season to be able to carve out a consistent role with Cleveland’s defense on a week-to-week basis. After all, the rookie could be an impact player if he gets more opportunities, maybe in sub packages and/or if injuries to Cleveland’s more-tenured safeties were to occur.
McNeil-Warren has the physicality and range roaming in the back end to be a potential difference-maker. But if Week 1 was any indication, it's going to take some time.
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