With his combination of elite athleticism and positional versatility, Seattle Seahawks rookie safety Nick Emmanwori was one of the most unique talents in this year’s NFL Draft.

Seahawks rookie to wear Russell Wilson’s former No. 3 jersey

It’s why the Seahawks traded up to grab him with the No. 35 overall pick.

And it’s why the 6-foot-3, 220-pound South Carolina product could be such a tantalizing addition to head coach Mike Macdonald’s ascending defense.

Macdonald’s cutting-edge scheme places an emphasis on positional versatility. There was perhaps no greater example of that than All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, who Macdonald deployed all over the field as a versatile chess piece during his success-filled run as the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator.

And now, Macdonald just might have his own version of a defensive unicorn in Seattle.

As former NFL quarterback Brock Huard described earlier this week during a Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, Emmanwori is like a queen on a chess board.

“You could just feel it with coach Macdonald,” Huard said. “You could just read his body language (last weekend) when asked about it – like, I just can’t wait to get this chess piece.

“He’s a queen, man. He’s no rook. He’s no bishop that can only move diagonally. Like, this is a queen that can move all over this chess board.”

‘All options are on the table’

Last season at South Carolina, Emmanwori put his rare skill set on full display.

He made plays all over the field, filling the stat sheet four interceptions, two pick-sixes, two pass breakups and three tackles for loss. He was one of just three FBS players with at least 300 snaps at safety, 100 snaps at slot corner, 100 snaps at outside linebacker and 100 snaps at inside linebacker, according to ESPN Research via ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

And then at the NFL combine, Emmanwori put on another eye-catching show. According to ESPN Research, he became just the fourth player 6-foot-3 or taller since 2003 to top 40 inches in the vertical jump and run the 40-yard dash in under 4.4 seconds.

Now, the question becomes: How will Emmanwori be used in Seattle?

The Seahawks already have a strong safety tandem in Julian Love and Coby Bryant, so that gives Macdonald plenty of flexibility to play Emmanwori in a variety of spots.

“I think all options are on the table,” Huard said. “This is just gonna be one of those classic situations that you see with baseball prospects, football prospects. Like, you tell me. You tell me whether or not you can handle the workload. Your play will tell me – can you play really, really fast in these different spots? And what does that look like in different unique packages in nickel and in dime?”

Huard then wondered if Emmanwori could potentially allow standout cornerback Devon Witherspoon to spend more time as an outside corner rather than at the nickel spot?

“Does it allow them a little freedom to put Spoon back outside at corner, where you can have some real strength with (cornerback) Riq Woolen and him? And then (you’d have) this dude (Emmanwori) around the line of scrimmage cleaning stuff up on aisle nine.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of excitement about molding that kind of talent to this defensive scheme.”

Brock Huard answers three football questions during the daily Blue 88 segment of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Stacy Rost: Wait – why are Seahawks longshots to win NFC West?
• Daniel Jeremiah thinks Seahawks’ Jalen Milroe could start games in Year 1
• Bump: A position the Seahawks still need to address
• Daniel Jeremiah: Why the Seahawks got two late-round steals
• Two analysts detail what they liked about Seattle Seahawks’ draft