The New Orleans Saints have shown interest in South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, who just a month ago wowed the entirety of the league with a spectacular combine performance. The all-world athlete visited the Saints on Thursday, per NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill. The Saints are a team that is looking to get younger at the position.
Widely regarded as one of the top safeties in this year's draft class, Emmanwori lived up to the hype at this year's combine running a blazing 4.38-second 40-yard dash at 220 pounds. He followed that up by jumping out of the building with a 43-inch vertical and a 11-foot-6 inch broad jump. Arguably the most impressive performance this year, scoring a perfect 10.0 Relative Athletic Score, though he didn't complete agility testing like the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle.
On the film side of things, Emmanwori translates a lot of his athleticism to his game. He plays with exceptional speed, blanketing tight ends with ease and has excellent range across the middle of the field. The physicality aspect of his game is another thing to take note of as he's consistently a worrisome presence for receivers coming his way. His fluidity is something that isn't much of his strong suit, such as a Malaki Starks but if you're a team looking for a supreme athlete and a tone setter, Emmanwori is certainly one of those.
Nick Emmanwori is a SS prospect in the 2025 draft class. He scored an unofficial 10.00 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 1079 SS from 1987 to 2025.
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) February 28, 2025
Splits projected, times unofficial. Pending agis and bench, could be a new top guy!https://t.co/WDmbwaGk56pic.twitter.com/53Vx9vR7dx
With the investment of safety Justin Reid this offseason, the Saints no longer have a dire need at the position. However, with that said Tyrann Mathieu is in the last year of his deal and will be 33 years old at the start of the season. It's not surprising to me that the team is looking in this direction to potentially secure a future at the position. The question is where does the investment take place in this year's draft?
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints host the 2025 draft's most athletic player on a predraft visit
