Weight: 227lbs (unofficial)
Year: Junior
Pro Comparison: TJ McDonald
Scouting Overview
South Carolina Gamecocks safety Nick Emmanwori is a supersized safety who boasts good straight-line burst, explosive hitting power, and unparalleled length to crowd throwing windows and test the catch point.
Emmanwori has been a productive player in coverage despite some transition limitations that make him an unlikely candidate to play on the roof at the NFL level with any consistency. His feel in zone coverage is effective for sinking and mirror-throwing windows, and he’s nearly impossible to throw over in the red zone where space is constricted — despite QBs continuing to try.
Emmanwori is a plus tackler and a tone-setting player in the box, where he’s spent most of his play at South Carolina.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Zone coverage instincts and ball skills pop off the film with a feel for depth and angles with anticipation
- Reliable tackler who runs the alley and attacks his fits with confidence from depth
- 1,600 snaps in the box or at nickel — he’s well versed in processing block development and route distribution in high traffic to take good angles and work through bodies
Negatives
- Transitional quickness and hip fluidity are limiting factors that create difficulty with transitions in space — limiting his range on the back end
- Lacks appeal as a slot coverage option against wide receivers due to high hips and long strides
- Penalties and discipline took a leap in 2024, and he’ll need to mind his physicality in coverage
Background
Emmanwori hails from Irmo, SC, and played high school football for Irmo HS. There, he was a position-fluid defender who played predominantly MIKE linebacker and was credited with more than 230 tackles as a senior. Emmanwori was an All-State selection as a junior and earned a 3-star recruiting ranking (247 Sports) before choosing to stay in his home state and play for the Gamecocks.
Emmanwori assumed a spot in the lineup in the first possession of the first game as a true freshman after an injury and never looked back. He started 12 games that season and was named First Team Freshman All-SEC and Second Team Freshman All-American for his efforts. He’s been a fixture of the South Carolina secondary ever since.
Tale Of The Tape
Emmanwori is a hilariously supersized safety that, despite his stature, has a number of winning traits and can be a unique identity piece to a successful NFL defense.
His instincts in zone coverage took a big step forward in 2024. He was more consistent with his spacing and made throws by opposing quarterbacks more difficult thanks to his straight-line quickness and surreal length to contest throwing windows. Emmanwori has predominantly lived on the second level of the South Carolina defense and makes sense as a traditional strong safety who can be charged with fitting the run in the box and playing intermediate zones.
From a coverage perspective, Emmanwori appears to have the physicality to successfully match opposing tight ends and would be a viable option in instances against a flex tight end in the slot. But his hip fluidity, stride length, and foot quickness do not create a promising outlook in man coverage against slot receivers, leaving him as a matchup-specific man defender who could compromise some of the disguises of the defense unless coaching and pre-snap structure can further lie to opposing quarterbacks.
Emmanwori’s actual ball skills are quite good. He’s shown good hands to reach and extend the football, and a number of his interceptions have come in the red zone, where there are more intense degrees to bend a ball with touch and fade it around his frame.
Emmanwori has successfully hawked throws in the middle of the field as well, working backside to cut a cross or undercutting a developing in-breaker from overtop to beat his opponent to the football. The length makes him a total headache to try to work around unless you can cross him up in space — which some receivers have done by pressing vertically and breaking off after he’s flipped his hips upfield.
Emmanwori’s pressure resume isn’t productive, and he’s been limited in opportunities, but he’s got all the makings of a tremendous pressure player from the second level. He’s got explosive straight-line speed, the ability to contest throwing windows by getting hands up off the edge if he’s not going to get home, and the ability to railroad running backs trying to step up and take him on the head-on in pass protection. He has the ability to really grow and expand this dynamic of his game if he lands with an aggressive scheme.
As a tackler, Emmanwori’s wingspan does him wonders. He’s made a lot of slashing runs from steep angles and successfully prevented further gains, and he is afforded more margin for error at the catch point with a receiver’s first move with the ball, thanks to how big his tackle radius is.
However, he’s a striker at heart and is capable of delivering some powerful blows by driving downhill and attacking ball carriers in head-up situations. He’s done well to beat blockers in space and take down quick throws on the perimeter — he’s not easy to pick off with perimeter screens as a result. He has an appetite for contact, and I love how he attacks these opportunities.
His ceiling will be predicated on how often he’s isolated in space and what teammates are around him to help keep him in optimal roles. As a tall safety, his transitions are limited by foot speed and hip tightness and that is an element of his game that is unlikely to change just based on his biomechanics as a mover.
His pedal is high, and his ability to collect from a pedal or flip open his hips to drive a throw from the post is not a strength.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Emmanwori projects best as a traditional strong safety or a third safety for teams that covet the personnel flexibility to play big nickel. Emmanwori’s role as a base safety would be best unlocked in a safety role that rolls down into the box from split half shells and is more responsible for playing forward than working in a pedal.
Although he becomes a probable coverage tell unless you’re willing to let him live in some tight half responsibilities. Those opportunities are likely best supplemented with strong perimeter cornerback play to allow him to stay tight to the hash and potentially hunt routes to cut across the middle of the field. Emmanwori is a developmental starter.
Grade: 78.00/100.00, Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD