The Denver Broncos have arguably the NFL’s best safety combo with 2-time NFL All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones.
You can even make a good argument that Jones’ season-ending torn pectoral muscle in Week 14 was one of the major factors in the Broncos eventually losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, Jones is in the final year of his contract in 2026 and Hufanga is only under contract through 2027. This means the Broncos have to spend at least part of this offseason planning for their future at safety.
That’s why Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft for ESPN has the Broncos targeted to select 6-foot-2, 202-pound All-American safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in the 1st round (No. 30 overall) of the 2026 NFL draft.
McNeil-Warren would be the 2nd member of Toledo’s secondary selected in the 1st round in the last 3 years following Philadelphia Eagles NFL All-Pro and Super Bowl champion Quinyon Mitchell. That’s pretty impressive considering Toledo had just 1 player picked in the 1st round in the 85 years before Mitchell was selected.
“The Broncos have two solid safeties in Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones, so this pick might not reap immediate rewards,” Kiper wrote. “But neither did the Jahdae Barron pick last April. Denver is planning ahead in the secondary and building something there, as coach Sean Payton focuses on keeping this defense strong. McNeil-Warren is a bit of a sleeper right now, but I think he could have been a top-15 pick had he played for a Power 4 team.”
McNeil-Warren Put Up Incredible Numbers
While plenty still depends on how McNeil-Warren performs at the NFL scouting combine — defensive backs perform on Friday — just 1 look at his stats the last 4 years with the Rockets shows a bona fide playmaker.
McNeil-Warren registered 12 forced fumbles over the course of his 4 seasons and put together his best season with 77 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions, 6 pass deflections and 1 interception returned for a touchdown in 2025 on the way to being named All-American.
“Long, downhill safety capable of bolstering a team’s run defense and playing enforcer over the middle,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “McNeil-Warren is most valuable when playing near the line of scrimmage or in robber positioning. He anticipates well in coverage and is quick to close on receivers but will need to be protected by scheme to prevent speed mismatches. He’s urgent in run support and has a feel for slipping blocks/meeting runners early in the carry. He’s 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’s good at his job.”
Breaking Down Hufanga & Jones Contracts
For their production, both Hufanga and Jones have been worth every penny.
Hufanga signed a 3-year, $39 million contract in March 2025 and quickly became one of the team’s leaders on the way to earning NFL All-Pro honors.
Jones signed a 3-year, $20 million contract before the 2024 season and has started 28 of 30 games over the last 2 seasons as Denver established itself as one of the NFL’s elite defenses.
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