On the eve of the biggest game of his life, a major award slipped through Seattle’s Nick Emmanwori’s fingers. The Seahawks safety was among the favorites to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year honor. But the AP voters went with Cleveland’s Carson Schwesinger instead. However, according to Nick’s former coach, that loss just handed the Seahawks their most dangerous weapon for the Super Bowl.

“If he doesn’t win it, everybody needs to watch out,” Clayton White, Nick Emmanwori’s defensive coordinator at South Carolina, told ABC Columbia. “Everybody needs to watch out, because it’s going to fire—I mean, he’s already lit. He’s already a highly passionate guy. So if he doesn’t win it, I mean, you’re talking about Defensive Player of the Year. You’re talking about league MVP, like that kind of motivation. That’ll be his next goal.”

White, who coached Emmanwori at South Carolina, saw the potential early on during a high school summer camp. The Irmo, South Carolina, native committed to the Gamecocks early in his recruitment. And it was all down to White.

“The relationship we built has been a good relationship,” Emmanwori said at the time. “He’s been transparent. He’s been keeping up with me real good. He said he sees a lot in me. He can see me playing the nickel position, a little-backer and a big-nickel position type.”

Initially, the DC wanted to use him as a linebacker, but when he saw his ball skills and elite backpedal, he moved Emmanwori to the defensive backs. The safety racked up 166 tackles and six interceptions in his three seasons with the Gamecocks, earning All-American honors along the way. That helped him land at the Seahawks with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Emmanwori came NFL-ready and made an impact throughout the Seahawks’ run to the Super Bowl. In 14 games so far, Emmanwori has totaled 81 tackles, nine TFLs, one interception, and eleven pass deflections. He has also played a big role in the postseason run, totaling eight tackles, four pass deflections, and a fumble recovery in two games.

But stats don’t do justice to his impact in unlocking Mike Macdonald’s defensive scheme. He has proven to be the exact “positionless” defender the head coach was looking for to replicate the role Kyle Hamilton played for him in Baltimore. The numbers back his tactical versatility.

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Across the 2025 regular season, Emmanwori played over 50% of his snaps in the box. A fifth of these snaps featured him as an edge rusher. At the same time, he also lined up as a slot corner to make it difficult for the opposing quarterbacks.

Although New England’s Drake Maye has faced extremely tough defenses in the playoffs so far, Seattle will be a different challenge altogether. A major part of that has to do with how Macdonald uses his front four and Emmanwori.

Had he won the Defensive Rookie of the Year, he would have been the first to receive the award in the franchise’s history. However, he received only seven first-place votes (199 points).

Nick Emmanwori’s availability for Super Bowl LX

As the Seahawks prepare for the Super Bowl this Sunday night, head coach Mike Macdonald on Thursday reported that rookie safety Nick Emmanwori injured his ankle in Wednesday’s practice, causing an ankle sprain. However, he gave confidence that he would be back healthy before Sunday.

“He rolled his ankle yesterday, and he’s got a low ankle sprain,” Macdonald said. “He’s going to do the walkthrough today; I’m not sure how extensive it will be or if he’s going to practice. But he’s confident; we’ve got a great plan, and we fully expect him to play… He’s doing great and moving around.”

Following the reports, the rookie safety himself has confirmed that he’ll be ready to go for Sunday. 

“It was just towards the end of practice; I just rolled my ankle,” Emmanwori told the NFL Network. “It kind of caught me off guard. The practice wasn’t anything crazy; we weren’t going hard out there, but I just rolled it. I’ll be good to go for Sunday, so I’m looking forward to that.”