Jon and I continue our scouting series with a look at another batch of safeties. If you missed part one — on how we evaluate safeties, Caleb Downs and more — you can find that here. On this episode, we discuss Oregon’s Dilon Thieneman, Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Arizona’s Genesis Smith and Kansas State’s VJ Payne.
Timestamps:
Oregon S Dillon Thienemen: 2:02-33:00
Toledo S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren: 33:00-53:36
Arizona S Genesis Smith: 53:36-1:01:52
Kansas State S VJ Payne: 1:01:52-1:19:34
2026 NFL Draft Headquarters: Scouting Reports, Position Rankings, Big Boards
This is the central hub for all of my 2026 NFL Draft work, updated regularly to provide convenient access to read scouting reports, boards and the supporting podcasts with Jon Ledyard. At the end of the process, I’ll post boards as stand-alone pieces. If you want full breakdowns of the top players (the strengths, weaknesses, and, most importantly, schematic fits) or to go scouring for late-round gems, this is the place to be.
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