Seattle Seahawks trade up, select Nick Emmanwori in 2nd round of 2025 NFL Draft

The Seattle Seahawks have selected South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori with the No. 35 pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He showed his potential across the past three seasons with the Gamecocks and will now look to prove himself at the next level.

The Seahawks traded up for the 35th pick in the draft. They sent the No. 52 and No. 82 overall selections to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for No. 35.

Emmanwori is coming off of a career season that saw him record 88 tackles and four interceptions, including two returned for a touchdown. He was a unanimous first team All-SEC selection and also earned first team All-American honors according to AP, Sporting News, and the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Emmanwori was also named to On3’s True Freshman All-American team in 2022. He ends his career in Columbia with 244 tackles, six interceptions and 11 passes defended overall.

Emmanwori played high school football for Irmo (SC), where he was a four-star prospect coming out in the 2022 cycle. He ranked as the No. 325 overall player and No. 6 player from the state of South Carolina according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Nick Emmanwori

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein provided some analysis on Emmanwori in his recent scout of the safety’s draft profile. He compared him to current Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn, who was a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Zierlein noted some of Emmanwori’s strengths as being his ball skills, which he descirbed as equal to that of “a five-star wide receiver,” as well as having a skillset that allows him to match up with tight ends. However, he also listed his weaknesses as at some points showing a “lack or urgency” and having an “inconsistent downhill trigger in run support.”

“The assessment of Emmanwori’s tape could depend on which games you watch,” Zierlein wrote. “He’s a physical specimen with rare size and outstanding speed, but he doesn’t always play with a ‘first to the action’ mentality in run support. When he gets it cranked up, he becomes a much more effective tackler and overall run stopper from sideline to sideline.

“He’s capable of playing over the top, inside the box or even matching up with pass-catching tight ends. He’s upright with average transition fluidity in coverage, but he has great recovery speed and uses his length to throw a blanket over the catch point. He has rare NFL traits and talent, so a boost in urgency could take him from a good starter to a Pro Bowl-caliber player.”