Seahawks draft film analysis: Why Nick Emmanwori is a ‘Boom or Bust’ prospect

The Seahawks took Nick Emmanwori after trading up in the second round. What are his strengths and weaknesses as a player?

The Seattle Seahawks moved up on day two of the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting safety Nick Emmanwori at No. 35. The former South Carolina player was considered a first-round pick and was known for being one of the most athletic prospects in recent memory.

The pick has one of the greatest potentials for Boom or Bust, and in this article I’ll explain why.

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Who is Nick Emmanwori?

Emmanwori started playing football because of his older brother. He started playing RB, WR and CB before entering High School. Arriving in High School he played WR and DB (in addition to playing basketball) and emerged as a standout in his junior and senior years, being All-State in both years.

He was rated as a three-star prospect. He received interest from Charlotte and Georgia Southern, before receiving an offer to South Carolina’s camp. He committed to the Gamecocks where he stayed until declaring for the Draft. Emmanwori received offers from other Power-4 teams in his senior season, but wanted to finish his college career in South Carolina.

In college he made 36 starts in three seasons. 2024: 88 tackles, 3 TFLs, 5 PBUs, 4 interceptions, 2 touchdowns. He earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll twice. He was also named a First-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC in his senior season, which was also his season as captain.

John Schneider and his Day 2 Trade Ups

John Schneider said the Seahawks almost moved back to the end of the first round to select Nick Emmanwori. He said if they left this draft without him, everyone in the Seattle draft process would be really disappointed.

To move up 17 spots from No. 52 to No. 35, the Seahawks gave up a third-round pick (82). Compare that to the Falcons, who gave up their 2026 first-round pick to move up 19 spots and select James Pearce Jr. It was expensive, but it was less than what Atlanta spent.

Let’s look at John Schneider’s Day 2 Trade Up history:

• 2015: The Seahawks moved up in the third round for Wide Receiver Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks received No. 69 and sent a third, fourth, fifth and sixth pick (95th, 112th, 167th and 181st);
• 2016: The Seahawks moved up in the second round for Defensive Tackle Jarran Reed. The Seahawks received the 49th in exchange for a second and fourth (56th and 124th);
• 2019: The Seahawks moved up in the second round for Wide Receiver DK Metcalf. The Seahawks received the 64th in exchange for a third and fourth (77th and 118th);
• 2019: The Seahawks moved up in the third round for Linebacker Cody Barton. The Seahawks received the 88th and 209th (6th round) in exchange for a third and fifth (92nd and 159th);
• 2020: The Seahawks moved up in the second round for EDGE Darrell Taylor. The Seahawks received the 48th in exchange for a second and third (59th and 101st);
• 2025: The Seahawks moved up in the second round for Defensive Back Nick Emmanwori. The Seahawks received the 35th pick in exchange for a second and third (52nd and 82nd);

Forget the media comparisons

I’ve already talked about this in our Scouting Report, but the comparisons made for Nick Emmanwori are too unfair. The first is Kam Chancellor and he’s the least similar. What Chancellor did on the field, I’ve never seen another safety do. I’m not saying that Kam was the best safety, but about his style of play. Emmanwori, despite being a big and physical safety, doesn’t have nearly the same style.

Below we have the closest thing Nick Emmanwori has to Kam Chancellor.

Nick Emmanwori noted that his defensive backs coach at South Carolina, Torrian Gray, coached Kam Chancellor at Virginia Tech. “Kam Chancellor is one of my favorite safeties of all time, so it means a lot to me to go to Seattle.”

The second common comparison is Kyle Hamilton. While Emmanwori is a vastly better athlete than Hamilton, the Ravens’ player is a different breed when it comes to game processing and football IQ. It’s unfair to compare and leaves too high a baseline for comparison.

Football IQ vs. Athleticism

On Emmanwori’s stellar performance at the Combine: He led all safeties in the vertical jump (43 inches), broad jump (11’6”) and bench press (20 reps), and had the second-fastest 40-yard dash time (4.38 seconds with a top speed of 23.53 mph). He was one of two DBs in 2025 with a sub-4.50 40-yard dash time and 20+ bench press reps. His Combine performance helped him earn an NGS athleticism score of 91, the highest score among safeties in the last three draft classes.

Milroe is one of the fastest QBs in the league. It’s a huge challenge to tackle him in the open field. Emmanwori has the speed to keep Milroe from attempting a cutback.

However, if athleticism is a factor, he’s a big factor. If it were the only important thing for a football player, we would see several 100m dash guys signing contracts with NFL franchises. Game processing and Football IQ are also necessary.

An extremely athletic player who runs a 4.3 but takes a long time to process a route, for example, can arrive late as if he were a 4.6 guy. In the same way, a slow guy who runs a 4.6 because he processes the game well can find shortcuts on the field and position himself better, reaching the opponent just like a 4.4 guy.

Emmanwori is the athletic guy, but he still needs to improve in terms of processing and FIQ. However, when this athletic ability exists, the sky is the limit for the player’s potential. Let’s see if the Seattle coaching staff will be able to put the player on the right path.

That’s why, in my opinion, Emmanwori will not be an average player in the league. Either he will be able to evolve and become one of the best at the position, or he will just be one of those players with a lot of athletic potential who didn’t make it in the league, like Obi Melifonwu who has already played in the NFL. Huge potential for BOOM or BUST.

It is worth remembering that there was some discussion about Emanwori’s effort/character issues and that this would have been one of the reasons Seattle brought him in for the 30-minute visit. With the effort to get him, the team was clearly certain that these rumors were not true.

This is what Bob McGinn brought up in one of his reports:

“There is some inconsistency and possible character issues. More like Fooball immaturity. He’s naturally contradictory to almost everything. He’s a top-20 talent, but he has some issues that come with it. Just don’t forget that. He can probably wear himself out on some things. You need someone to deal with his personality. They say this guy is so opinionated that if you get him on your side, he’ll save the world. If he goes against your opinions, he’ll destroy the world.”

Mukuba is a much inferior athlete to Emmanwori. However, like I said, there’s no point in having an elite 3-cone drill if you’re slow to figure out what the QB is going to do or take bad angles.

That’s his ceiling. He lines up as a safety, understands route concepts, and doesn’t waste time in transition. We have the best of his processing and athleticism combined. Let’s hope Macdonald can keep it consistent at this level.

Finally, there are times when his athleticism can hide a mistake. Here he takes a bad angle, but he’s so fast he can recover. In the NFL, the athletic disparity tends to decrease compared to college.

What role will he play on defense?

Macdonald clarified Emmanwori’s role in the post-draft press conference. He will start out playing nickel/dime, but he will also “train to play safety.” That’s the plan to get the most out of him early in his career. Take advantage of his athleticism and stay away from areas he hasn’t developed yet (which every head coach should do).

According to ESPN Research, Nick Emmanwori was one of three FBS players in 2024 with 300+ snaps as a safety, 100+ snaps as a slot cornerback, 100+ snaps as an outside linebacker and 100+ snaps as an inside linebacker.

Breaking down Emmanwori’s versatility a bit more, he played 32% of his snaps as a MOF safety, 31% as a split safety, 19% as a slot safety and 18% in the box. Mike Macdonald loves having this type of “play-everywhere” safety, like Dax Hill in Michigan and All-Pro Kyle Hamilton in Baltimore.

He uses the ROBOT technique correctly, which should be used when you bite the play action bait. He looks for a target, positions himself in the passing lane and sees the QB looking at the target. Makes the interception and returns for a TD.

He has improved his movement a lot from year to year in South Carolina. Here we see him masterfully covering a slot fade, staying with the receiver step by step all the way down the field.

After the offensive moves, Nick is in the slot again. A much more agile receiver with speed in short space. Emmanwori can move quickly and still cuts the passing lane, again.

The QB is focused on the right side of the offense and Emmanwori can easily read his intentions.

The offense switches from a 2×2 formation to a 1×3 after the motion. Emmanwori is responsible for any route over 5 yards from #1. He is well in coverage and looking at the QB, he sees the opportunity for an interception.

He makes an adjustment before the play and together with the CB “boxes” the WR. The QB does not see Emmanwori and he comes out with the interception and uses his athleticism to turn it into a TD.

Emmanwori still needs to improve

He takes a while to realize what is happening in the backfield. The time he hesitates makes him arrive late and miss the tackle on the RB.

In the NFL, this would be a TD on 8 out of 10 plays. He takes a while to react to the WR’s cut and the opponent is free in the redzone. Emmanwori is lucky that Milroe didn’t see this.

He uses the technique correctly. He bites the play action, turns his back, finds a target crossing the field and goes to cover him. The whole process is correct, but he takes a bad angle at the end of the play and the pass ends up being completed.

Final Thoughts

I’m always wary of players who come in with very high expectations. The unusual athletic profile, as well as Emmanwori’s posts after being drafted, posting the LOB’s photo and saying he really wanted to play against the 49ers, make fans excited. However, as Uncle Ben would say, “with great power comes great responsibility.” In other words, to the same extent that he “promises,” he should be held accountable.