Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald 'will have a blast' using South Carolina stud Nick Emmanwori as chess piece

The Seattle Seahawks brought in a lot of interesting new pieces in the 2025 NFL draft. Most of the additions came on offense, where they landed a big left guard upgrade, a real receiving threat at tight end and an exciting developmental quarterback, among other things. Not much capital was spent on the defense, though - with one major exception to the rule.

Early in the second round the Seahawks made a trade with the Tennessee Titans, moving up to No. 35 overall for South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, one of the most intriguing defensive prospects in the 2025 draft class. The move up itself wasn't ideal from a draft value perspective, but you can't argue against giving head coach Mike Macdonald a tool like this.

Emmanwori comes into the league as one of the most versatile defensive backs in the country and Jordan Omalley at StadiumTalk has named him among eight rookies around the NFL who couldn't have asked for a better fit.

"Emmanwori play like a chess piece - smart, fluid, and ready for chaos. He's built like a linebacker but moves like a corner, which gives Seattle's defense unusual flexibility. Seattle's new defensive wizard, Mike Macdonald, will have a blast with him, moving him all over the back end to confuse quarterbacks and wreck the game plans."

Macdonald has already proven that he can get more juice out of this defense than former head coach Pete Carroll could. With the exception of a big midseason trade for Ernest Jones IV, Macdonald had largely the same personnel to work with as Carroll did in 2023 and got far better results - at least when it came to pressuring the quarterback and covering on the back end.

In addition to Emmanwori the other big piece the Seahawks picked up on defense this offseason with DeMarcus Lawrence, who should super-charge what was an already strong edge rush rotation.

Assuming that a full offseason with Ernest Jones calling the shots as the unit's centerpiece, the Seahawks should start the year off better against the run than they did last season. If that's the case, all they'll have to do to field an elite defense is keep the key pieces healthy.

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