'He ran like the Flash and jumped like an Olympian:' Nick Emmanwori's combine performance judged as one of the best ever
The NFL world found out what South Carolina fans already knew — Gamecocks safety Nick Emmanwori is a freak athlete.
The former Irmo standout and three-year South Carolina starter was the talk of the NFL Combine this weekend but just how impressive was his performance?
Some say it was one of the best performances in NFL Combine history.
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After measuring in at 6-foot-3⅛, 220-pounds, Emmanwori ran a blazing 4.38-second 40-yard dash to go along with a 43-inch vertical and 11′ 6″ broad jump.
A quick Google search of his name reveals just how much buzz Emmanwori created for himself.
According to NBC’s Pro Football Talk, he is the only safety in Combine history to run under 4.4 seconds in the 40 and jump over 43 inches in the vertical and over 11 feet in the broad.
A USA Today article — headlined “He ran like the Flash and jumped like an Olympian. A combine performance for the ages.” — said his performance was “arguably the best one ever” at the combine.
According to ESPN Research, Emmanwori joined Bryce Ford-Wheaton (2023), Tariq Woolen (2022), and DK Metcalf (2019) as one of just four players 6-foot-3 or taller to have topped 40 inches in the vertical jump and run a sub-4.4 in the 40 since 2003.
And then there’s the Relative Athletic Score or RAS — a metric created by Kent Lee Platte that seeks to measure the athleticism of each prospect compared to their peers at their position.
According to RAS, Emmanwori’s performance made him the single most athletic safety in the time period (1987-present) that the metric tracks.
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His 10.0 score for the metric would have also carried over when compared to cornerbacks or wide receivers, with only Calvin Johnson beating him among wideouts.
Despite already being Mel Kiper’s No. 2 overall safety and a projected first round pick, the veteran analyst listed the former All-American as one of 18 players who are on the rise after the combine.
While Emmanwori’s buzzworthy performance is taking the headlines right now, South Carolina fans will remember that he was also incredibly productive on the field all three years he was with the Gamecocks.
Emmanwori, who was an On3 outlier as a four-star signee for South Carolina, began his college career as a Freshman All-American in 2022 and capped it as a first-team All-American in 2024. He accumulated 244 career tackles and six interceptions, returning two for touchdowns, over his 37 games played (36 starts).
This weekend he capped one of the best careers for a South Carolina DB with one of the best combines in NFL history.
