25 Chicago Bears: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, SAF, Toledo
Even though the Bears have worked to replace them in NFL Free Agency, the losses of players like Kevin Byard, CJ Gardner-Johnson, and Jaquan Brisker could really hurt in the long run. For a defense that led the NFL this past season in total takeaways, the Bears still have to work to make sure they do everything in their power to make sure that’s still part of the unit’s DNA.
Taking Emmanuel McNeil-Warren accomplishes exactly that.
McNeil-Warren has no business falling this far down the board with his combination of size and athletic traits, but there’s no way the Bears would complain about it. Getting a safety in the 1st round isn’t the ideal way to spend the pick, but this is a team with championship aspirations, and the Bears need as many playmakers on the back end as they can get.
26. Buffalo Bills: Peter Woods, DL, Clemson
At some point, some team is going to take a chance on Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods, and I think they’re going to be happy they did it.
For the majority of the 2025 offseason, Woods was getting talked about as though he was guaranteed a spot in the top 10 picks of this year’s draft. That’s how well he played in the 2024 season at Clemson, but as we know, the volatility of NFL Draft stock can be brutal for prospects if you’re not putting up huge numbers every single game, especially if you had high expectations going into the year.
The Buffalo Bills could use help in the trenches on both sides of the ball after losing both David Edwards (guard) and AJ Epenesa (defensive end), but Woods gives them another option for the rotation immediately at defensive tackle.