The Seattle Seahawks, as most 12s know, had 11 draft choices in the 2025 NFL draft. Will all of these players make the team? Maybe, but adding 11 rookies to a 53-man roster is asking a lot. It also assumes the team will make a lot of mistakes, as that is what happens with a young roster.
There should be at least a few rookies who do make an impact on Seattle's season, though. Third-round pick Jalen Milroe, probably not. He's going to enter the season as the third-string quarterback. But second-round selection Nick Emmanwori? Very likely.
This might have been the case anyway. The safety has good speed, great athleticism, and can probably be good at helping stop the run. But few probably thought that Emmanwori would be so good so fast.
Nick Emmanwori might become an even bigger star for the Seahawks than anyone anticipated
Pads have yet to come on (that will not happen until training camp), and potentially that changes how the safety looks, but probably not. Emmanwori has been so impressive in all aspects of what the Seahawks have asked of him so far that he even earned some reps practicing with the edge rush group.
That implies that head coach Mike Macdonald and his defensive coaching staff are already trusting that Emmanwori is picking up the scheme quickly. If he had struggled in coverage, he might have gotten all of his OTA and minicamp work in there, but allowing him to work on pass-rush moves means Seattle already is enamored with his versatility.
A lot of NFL pundits thought the South Carolina product might be chosen as high as the middle of the first round. Instead, he fell to the second round, and the Seahawks were able to trade up from number 52 to number to take him. He could easily turn out to be the Seahawks' biggest second-round steal since wide receiver DK Metcalf in 2019.
Metcalf was able to translate his fantastic athletic ability to the NFL quite quickly. He had 900 yards receiving in his first year.
Emmanwori's raw statistics might not be as flashy as a receiver's, but his impact might be felt even more. Macdonald will likely use the safety's versatility to move him around the defense, helping disguise his defensive alignments even more.
Seahawks fans would be ecstatic if rookie Emmanwori finished with three interceptions and five sacks, but he is capable of doing so, and already being worked into formations in practice that would allow him to do that.
In the end, Nick Emmanwori might not be worthy of being compared to Seahawks legend Kam Chancellor or Ravens All-Pro Kyle Hamilton. Emmanwori might turn out to be better than both.