Rams trade down and still land top safety in NFL.com's new mock draft

[ASFN Admin]

Trading back in the NFL draft is never a bad strategy. The more picks acquired, the more opportunities to select potentially impactful players, especially if it means still landing an impactful player early.

Les Snead and the Los Angeles Rams know this all too well, often moving back in an effort to accumulate picks.

In his recent 2025 mock draft, NFL.com lead draft writer Eric Edholm has the Rams moving back from 26 to 31 with the Kansas City Chiefs to select South Carolina Safety Nick Emmanwori.

Just a wild guess here, but I can imagine the Rams being fans of Emmanwori. And I could see DC Chris Shula using Emmanwori where he's best: in the box, as a pseudo linebacker. Shula's mentor, Wade Phillips, deployed Mark Barron that way in L.A. Emmanwori's path to success might be similar.

Emmanwori played for the Gamecocks from 2022-2024. It didn't take long for him to make an impression in his first season, earning SEC All-Freshman Team honors after leading his team with 78 tackles as a true freshman. As a junior, he recorded career-highs in tackles (88) and interceptions (4) while scoring a pair of defensive touchdowns. Emmanwori concluded his career at South Carolina, earning first-team All-SEC and first-team All-American selections following the 2024 season.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound safety made a strong impression at the combine, clocking in at 4.38 seconds for the 40-yard dash. According to Next Gen Stats, he ran his 40 at a speed of 23.53 mph, which was tied for the third-fastest speed by a safety over the last three Combine and the second-fastest safety time at the 2025 combine. He recorded a production score of 82 and an athleticism score of 91, ranking first among all safeties.

Nick Emmanwori running a 4.38 at 6'3" | 220 LBS is absurd

pic.twitter.com/SCiBaDEunb

— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 28, 2025

Below is a snippet of his scouting report from Lance Zierlein at NFL.com:

The assessment of Emmanwori’s tape could depend on which games you watch. He’s a physical specimen with rare size and outstanding speed, but he doesn’t always play with a “first to the action” mentality in run support. When he gets it cranked up, he becomes a much more effective tackler and overall run stopper from sideline to sideline. He’s capable of playing over the top, inside the box or even matching up with pass-catching tight ends. He’s upright with average transition fluidity in coverage, but he has great recovery speed and uses his length to throw a blanket over the catch point. He has rare NFL traits and talent, so a boost in urgency could take him from a good starter to a Pro Bowl-caliber player.

#SouthCarolina DB Nick Emmanwori was my DB1 at the start of the year

Freakish plays like this combined with freakish combine numbers make me very confident in that staying the same

Emmanwori straight up covered two routes at once on this play. Stud. pic.twitter.com/VQgEuQBsZQ

— Hail Mary Sports (@hailmarysportss) March 15, 2025

Emmanwori, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, played football at Irmo High School in Irmo, South Carolina. During the 2022 recruiting period, he was rated a three-star recruit and chose the Gamecocks over offers from Charlotte and Georgia Southern.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL mock draft 2025: Rams trade down, still land S Nick Emmanwori

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