RENTON, Wash. -- Nick Emmanwori was waiting for his name to be called during the first round of the 2025 NFL draft when he got a direct message from "one of my football idols," Seattle Seahawks legend Kam Chancellor.
From one oversized safety to another, Chancellor offered Emmanwori words of encouragement. They echoed what he had heard from his position coach in college at South Carolina, Torrian Grey, who had also coached Chancellor at Virginia Tech.
"He just told me the same thing that coach Gray was telling me about how teams thought I was a box safety or I was a linebacker and he proved them wrong," the 6-foot-3, 220 pound Emmanwori said. "... He sees some similarities in that. He was like, 'I can't wait to watch [you] in the NFL. Can't wait to prove them wrong.'"
Chancellor probably didn't know that as he was messaging Emmanwori, his former team was plotting ways to draft him.
General manager John Schneider, coach Mike Macdonald and their respective staffs had enough conviction in Emmanwori's potential to become a difference-maker in their defense that they considered moving back into the end of first round to get him, having already taken guard Grey Zabel with the 18th pick. After talks with the Philadelphia Eagles fizzled on Day 1, Schneider landed Emmanwori a day later by trading up 17 spots to get him with the third pick of the second round.
While that move cost the Seahawks one of their two third-round picks, it left them feeling like they had just landed two first-round players. Schneider said they had Emmanwori rated "right next to" Zabel.
"Last night we had a lot of conversations about how do we do this," Schneider said after Day 2 had concluded. "We almost traded back up in to get Nick. Everybody was extremely passionate about it. If we would have come out of the draft without him, we would have been disappointed."
Seattle's defense was good in Year 1 under Macdonald, finishing with the ninth-fewest points allowed per game (20.2) after its midseason turnaround. With his playmaking ability and elite blend of size and physical tools, the Seahawks believe Emmanwori can help it become great -- even if he doesn't earn an every-down role right away.
Macdonald hasn't indicated that he expects Emmanwori to immediately usurp Coby Bryant, who's entering the final year of his rookie contract after emerging as a solid starter last season alongside Julian Love. The coach hinted at how the safety could be used when was asked whether Chancellor or Kyle Hamilton -- who became an All-Pro safety with the Ravens while Macdonald was Baltimore's defensive coordinator -- entered into his thinking while evaluating Emmanwori.
"I think what we found with Kyle is that the system allows for us to get multiple safeties on the field and also be in the slot kind of with enhanced coverage responsibilities," Macdonald said. "He can affect the game that way kind of at the second level while training at the third level. Gives us some depth at the safety room, guys that we currently love that are on the roster. To be able to affect the game early on in his career, too, as he starts to develop, same story with Nick."
While the comparisons to Chancellor and Hamilton make sense in terms of size, physicality and versatility, neither had testing numbers as impressive as Emmanwori. He led all safeties at the scouting combine with a 43-inch vertical jump, an 11-foot, 6-inch broad jump and 20 bench-press reps. He was second among his position group with a 4.38 40-yard dash, a blazing time at his size.
"This was one of the best combines I've ever seen," Schneider said. "Physically he does kind of look like Kam. I think Kam would tell you he didn't test like that."
According to ESPN Research, Emmanwori was one of three FBS players in 2024 with 300-plus snaps at safety, 100-plus snaps at slot corner, 100-plus snaps at outside linebacker and 100-plus snaps at inside linebacker. He returned two of his four interceptions for touchdowns and was one of three Power Conference players who recorded at least 90 tackles last season along with four picks.
As a true freshman in 2022, Emmanwori allowed five passing touchdowns in 363 coverage snaps. He only allowed one score in 741 coverage snaps over the following two seasons.
Emmanwori's college tape and his strong testing numbers had Schneider thinking back to his old boss with the Green Bay Packers, Ron Wolf, who used to ask whether safeties with that kind of athleticism and coverage skills could instead play cornerback.
"He's been a guy that our whole staff has been really excited about the whole process," Macdonald said. "How do you watch his tape and not just see the potential of what he can become? To our coaches' credit, they really felt strongly about it. ... It's our job to kind of make it come to life now, which is the fun process. ... If you do it the right way, I really believe it can be something pretty special."