Second-year safety Nick Emmanwori has become one of the Seattle Seahawks’ most flexible answers on defense, and Mike Macdonald is leaning into that versatility at exactly the right time.
After Emmanwori turned in a strong showing against Arizona Cardinals All-Pro tight end Trey McBride, he’s set for another demanding assignment this weekend against Las Vegas Raiders star Brock Bowers, a first-team All-Pro who has been one of the league’s most productive tight ends despite appearing in just seven games.
Against Arizona, Brady Henderson of ESPN reported that Emmanwori handled extensive coverage work on McBride, who came into the matchup as one of the NFL’s most dangerous tight ends. McBride still finished with seven catches, but none came against Emmanwori in coverage.
The Seahawks safety also delivered in a huge spot on 4th-and-2, when Arizona was threatening to score its first touchdown. Emmanwori stayed attached to McBride and was credited with a pass breakup in the fourth quarter.
“We asked him to match up a few times, and he did a great job,” Macdonald said, via Ari Horton and the Seattle Seahawks team website. “I think he had a great mentality throughout the week.
He was on his details, and I think you saw that kind of manifest itself in the game by him just letting it rip and playing a great game. I mean, we asked him to blitz; we asked him to cover.
Obviously the play in the red zone was awesome, and then we had a plan for him to rush as well.”
Bowers brings a different kind of challenge. He ranks ninth in the NFL with 658 receiving yards and leads all tight ends in that category, and Ted Nguyen of The Athletic pointed out that his frequent alignments out wide could complicate Seattle’s plans if the Seahawks want Emmanwori tracking him all game. That could leave Michael Mayer as the more likely matchup for Seattle’s versatile defensive back.
Macdonald said the key isn’t just size or speed - it’s understanding how different tight ends win.
“Not all tight ends run the routes equally; they run different route trees ...” Macdonald said via Henderson. “Nick has the ability to run with anybody ... but the ability to stay connected at the top of routes; the best tight ends are able to use physicality to create separation, and Nick’s able to fight fire with fire on that front or be able to absorb some tricks of the trade.”
That profile is exactly why Emmanwori stands out. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, he’s a hybrid safety, nickelback and linebacker, and Macdonald has called him “a crazy athletic linebacker.” Seattle has moved him all over the formation, including snaps at the line of scrimmage as an edge technique.
The clearest comparison is Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, the do-everything defender whose rise to three-time All-Pro status was shaped in part by Macdonald’s two seasons as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator, when Hamilton earned his first All-Pro nod in 2023.
Henderson also noted that NFL Next Gen Stats showed Emmanwori was one of only six defensive backs in the 2025 regular season, his rookie year, to log more than 80 snaps on the line of scrimmage, at linebacker and in the slot. The others were Hamilton, Derwin James Jr., Jaquan Brisker and Jeremy Chinn.
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