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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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Many believe the Cleveland Browns hit a home run when they drafted safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in Round 2 of the 2026 NFL draft.
McNeil-Warren is a highly-rated safety out of Toledo who some scouts had going in the first round.
Cleveland snatched him up with the 58th overall pick in the draft — 19 selections after the Browns picked wide receiver Denzel Boston with the seventh pick of the second round. Both picks earned the Browns praise for stealing two first-round talents.
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Now that he’ll be playing in Cleveland, some pre-draft remarks McNeil-Warren made during an appearance on “Up & Adams” are going viral on social media because he essentially called out Derrick Henry, star running back of the Baltimore Ravens, who are a Browns division rival.
“I heard you’re looking forward to hitting a friend of mine named Derrick Henry,” host Kay Adams stated. “What…are you crazy?”
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“[I’m] a little bit crazy,” McNeil-Warren said. “I feel like, he’s a bigger dude, so you can’t be scared to come at him. You got to bring that power. Just how he runs, run with power.”
“Most safeties think about smacking a wide receiver over the middle, getting a quarterback off a blitz — you want that smoke from [Henry]? You want a 6-2, 252-pound Hall of Famer barreling down on you?”
“I just love a challenge,” McNeil-Warren replied. “That’s how I could be better — going against somebody big.”
Neither the Ravens nor the Browns need any bulletin-board material for their two divisional games each year, but McNeil-Warren provided it.
The rookie safety may just get what he’s asking for. Henry has a track record of making safeties look foolish, just as Earl Thomas.
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