Analysis: Expect Multiplicity as Seahawks Try to Replace Nick Emmanwori in Season Opener
RENTON, Wash. - Now just two days away from their season opener, while the team will not make final designations until Tuesday, the odds of Nick Emmanwori being available for the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday night remain iffy at best.
Emmanwori, who underwent ankle surgery days before the start of training camp, has been gradually ramping up activity on the field since being activated from the PUP list in mid-August. This week, he has taken another positive step forward practicing with a helmet on and partaking in more individual drills, but that may not be enough to warrant rushing him back into the lineup for the opener.
Still, as expected given the fact the team doesn’t have to announce anything until Tuesday, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald kept the door open with a coy response on Emmanwori’s status after Monday’s practice.
“Nick had his most work over the last couple of days, looks great, and he practiced limited today,” Macdonald said with a subtle smirk on his face, providing a minimal update.
Until Emmanwori has been officially ruled out, there’s always an outside shot that the second-year safety manages to suit up for Seattle. But with him still not practicing in full after missing all of training camp and the preseason, signs continue to point to the team being cautious with a long season ahead, hoping to potentially have him return in Week 2 against the Cardinals when he has had another full week of practice under his belt.
If Emmanwori doesn’t play against the Patriots, the Seahawks have had plenty of time to experiment with other options to try to compensate for his absence in the lineup while the versatile Defensive Rookie of the Year runner up has been sidelined this summer. Much like with injuries, Macdonald didn’t have much to say specifics-wise on that front on Monday, choosing to speak in generalities as a means of gamesmanship leading up to Wednesday’s Super Bowl rematch.
“We have a lot of guys that have earned opportunities to play,” Macdonald said. “We spent a lot of the offseason getting them ready to play, so whoever’s ready to play, we have a lot of faith in playing good football for us, however we deploy them.”
At 6-3, 230 pounds with 4.32 speed, Emmanwori truly can be put in a box of his own in terms of unique size, athleticism, and skill set. There may not be another player in the league who matches his traits and incredible positional flexibility, so the Seahawks won’t be able to just plug in a backup in his stead and run their defense exactly the same way they would if the star defender was available.
However, Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde have several reserves who could help pick up various pieces left behind without Emmanwori in the lineup, including third-year linebacker Tyrice Knight. The former fourth round pick out of UTEP started nine games as a rookie, only to lose his starting job four weeks into the 2025 season to Drake Thomas, but when he has been on the field, he has been a difference maker for Seattle in a variety of ways.
During his rookie campaign, he racked up 88 tackles and 1.5 sacks, and even with a vastly diminished role last season, Knight excelled when granted the opportunity. Replacing starter Ernest Jones in a Week 11 blowout win over the Cardinals, he produced a pair of strip sacks against quarterback Jacoby Brissett that teammate Demarcus Lawrence returned for two touchdowns, showing off his blitzing chops that he developed at the college level.
This summer, without having to deal with a knee injury or heart issue as he did one year prior that contributed to him eventually losing his starting job, Knight turned in a sensational camp and preseason while being utilized in a more multiple role than he had in his first two seasons. Aside from his duties as an off ball linebacker, Macdonald mixed him in as a situational EDGE in 4-3 personnel groupings with three linebackers on the field, quite the shift from the nickel/dime heavy schemes Seattle deployed in 2025.
Having 3.5 sacks and 14 pressures on his resume with just 57 pass rushing opportunities in his career thus far, Knight’s prior experience working off the edge extensively and blitzing frequently at UTEP has paid major dividends as he has settled into a more variant role in Macdonald’s defense. His athleticism allows the Seahawks to be able to mix in traditional 4-3 looks with three off ball linebackers while also having the ability to shift to 5-2 fronts on passing downs with him either pinning his ears back to rush the quarterback or dropping back into coverage.
“I think anytime we can add something, especially for defensive players, to keep offenses off balance and that’s really good. I’m excited for T-Knight to come out there and ball with us,” Jones said, selfishly acknowledging that he loves to have three linebackers on the field together. “He’s been making plays throughout camp, and he’s deserved the opportunity to get out there with us, so I’m excited for it.”
From a more traditional sense, veteran safety D’Anthony Bell offers the closest to a “plug and play” option for Emmanwori, at least in terms of what Seattle has under contract on the active roster and practice squad. The team recently re-signed him to the practice squad after he handled strong safety and “big” nickel duties during training camp and the preseason, and at 6-1, 211 pounds, he’s the second biggest safety on the roster after Emmanwori, making him a more natural fit for that physical role.
While Bell mostly played special teams in 13 games for Seattle last season before Carolina claimed him off waivers in December, he did produce a sack as a blitzer in limited action on defense. He also has plenty of positional versatility, albeit not near the level of a football playing cyborg such as Emmanwori, with over 100 career snaps in the slot, as a box safety, and as a free safety, making him a likely candidate to receive a game day elevation for Wednesday night.
The Seahawks also have former Colts starter Rodney Thomas II on the practice squad as well, presenting a different look as more of a rangy, ball-hawking deep third coverage safety or big slot than a box merchant. It’s possible, especially with Ty Okada missing two practices this week with a hamstring injury, that both experienced vets could get practice squad callups and be in line to see defensive snaps for a suddenly depleted safety group in the opener, mixing and matching them in the secondary as part of the plan to offset Emmanwori’s absence.
“Everybody that has practiced with us and been here in camp, we’d be excited to see them and see where they’re at,” Macdonald remarked in regard to Bell and Thomas. “Feel like they can contribute playing great football for us.”
In the unlikely event Emmanwori does play on Wednesday night, the Seahawks would have the young star on a pitch count, so even under such circumstances, Bell and/or Thomas as well as Knight would be in line to see playing time. If he’s out as anticipated, the onus will fall on those players to pick up the slack, but Macdonald has confidence all three will be able to do so when called upon.
What remains to be seen will be how Macdonald decides to allocate the reps that typically would go to Emmanwori. Depending on the game plan, Knight could jump into a large role as a hybrid linebacker on early downs, rotating down to rush in passing situations or subbing out for extra coverage help with Bell or Thomas plugged into the lineup. Or it’s possible that nickel and dime packages will stay heavy on the menu with Knight used more as a change of pace substitution.
Much of that deployment may depend on how the game unfolds, as Macdonald and his players recognize the tricky nature of season openers and how they force teams to make quick adjustments without having much to prepare for tendencies-wise. But if there’s a net positive, while some teams would be in a world of hurt under similar circumstances, the Seahawks at least have some intriguing alternatives at their disposal defensively to build a respectable plan even without their game changing force multiplier ready to return.
