MrEd315 asks, “Which Seahawks player has been the biggest surprise this year?”
A: There are a couple of ways you could look at this. If we’re talking about a player making big contributions who I didn’t expect to have for that role coming into the season, then the answer is linebacker Drake Thomas. The former undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State played a total of 41 defensive snaps over his first two seasons with the Seahawks, but he took over a starting role early this season, and despite not starting until Week 4, he’s tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with 10, second in tackles with 66, fifth in sacks with 3.5 and tied for sixth in passes defensed with six.
But if we’re talking about a player who everyone was expecting to contribute who has still surprised, I would go with rookie safety Nick Emmanwori. The Seahawks had a first-round grade on Emmanwori and traded up in the second round to get him, so there was no doubt that he would have a big role in the defense this season. But I don’t think I’m alone in saying I didn’t know he would be this good, this soon, especially after missing almost all of the first four games due to an ankle injury suffered on the defense’s first possession of the season.
Emmanwori isn’t just a playmaker, as his 11 passes defensed, 2.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and one interception all highlight, he’s a playmaker at multiple positions, giving Mike Macdonald and the defensive coaching staff an absurdly versatile and athletic chess piece they can move around the defense. Need someone to rush the passer or play the run off the edge? Emmanwori can do that. Need a box defender versatile enough to stop the run or cover a tight end down the seam? Sign him up. Need a nickel defensive back athletic enough to cover an All-Pro receiver like Justin Jefferson on third down? I think you can see where this is going.
If not for the time he missed, Emmanwori would probably be the front runner for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, and even after missing three full games and most of a fourth, he is absolutely a legit candidate for that award, as well as Pro-Bowl honors. In fact, if the Emmanwori Rookie of the Year campaign hasn’t started already, let’s get it going. The kid is special.
“Nick can be the best of all of us,” safety Julian Love said recently. “Obviously, we’re not 6-3, can run and jump and can bend, all that stuff. From the jump, I think Mike did a great job of just introducing him to small concepts at once. He’s not trying to make him learn all these things. He’s like, ‘Hey, learn this, rep it, now you can learn this, learn this and this.’ So now, even if he’s not perfect on the field, he just flies around and can make plays just because he is a special player.”