Emmanwori, Milroe head Seahawks Day Two draft haul

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 05: Nick Emmanwori #7 of the South Carolina Gamecocks plays against the Mississippi Rebels during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 05, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)

RENTON, Wash. - Exceptional athleticism appears to be the defining characteristic of the Seattle Seahawks 2025 draft class.

After adding a highly-athletic guard prospect in Grey Zabel in the first round on Thursday night, the Seahawks doubled down with three selections on Friday that fall into the same category of top-end athleticism.

"This is a cool day in Seahawks history. It really is," general manager John Schneider said Friday night.

The Seahawks moved up in the second round to take South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, and then held firm with their remaining two selections of the day to take Miami (FL) tight end Elijah Arroyo and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.

"All four (picks), the people, the competitors, the athletes, they just feel special," Schneider said. "I can't describe it any different than to say they feel special, like they feel different. It's a great thing, like I said last night, respecting the group of players that are here right now, to be able to add these guys in. It's going to be outstanding."

The Seahawks didn't wait around to make a move on day two of the NFL Draft.

Just three picks into the second round, the Seahawks made a deal with the Tennessee Titans to jump up and pick Emmanwori. Seattle traded the second of their two second-round picks, No. 52 overall, and a third-round pick, No. 82 overall, to the Titans to jump up and take Emmanwori with the 35th pick.

"We almost traded back up in (to the first round) to get Nick," Schneider said. "Everybody was extremely passionate about it. If we would have come out of the draft without him, we would have been disappointed."

Emmanwori is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound safety who was a three-year starter at South Carolina and earned Freshman All-American honors. While comparisons to Kam Chancellor may be unfair, Emmanwori has a well-rounded game for his size and is comfortable playing closer to the line of scrimmage.

"I was excited. Genuinely, I’m happy they came and got me," Emmanwori saidnof being selected by the Seahawks. "It felt great when I went up there for the visit. I talked to the coaches and had a great visit. I felt the most connected with them. If there was anybody to (trade up for me), I knew it would be them."

Emmanwori has been compared to former Legion of Boom stalwart Kam Chancellor and Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, who head coach Mike Macdonald coached in Baltimore. Emmanwori's position coach at South Carolina – Torrian Gray – was actually Chancellor's position coach at Virginia Tech.

"Coach Gray used to tell me all the time that we had a lot of similarities," Emmanwori said. "Used to compare our game a lot. Honestly, Kam Chancellor is one of my favorite safeties, ever. It means a lot going to Seattle. I used to watch him all the time on TV. I used to pull up his highlights before games. It’s crazy."

Emmanwori said he and Chancellor haven't met, but that Chancellor sent him a direct message during the first day of the draft.

"So that was crazy," Emmanwori said. "One of my football idols shot me a text, shot me a follow, so it was great.

"He just told me the same thing that Coach Gray was telling me about how team’s start [saying] I was a box safety or I was a linebacker and he proved them wrong. He proved them different. He sees some similarities in that. He was like, I can’t wait to watch me in the NFL. Can’t wait to prove them wrong."

Schneider raved about Emmanwori's performance at the NFL Combine.

"The way I was raised in this business was with Ron Wolf (in Green Bay): Why couldn't he be a corner? He has coverage skills," Schneider said.

"The Combine was one of the most impressive things we've seen, for how big and explosive he is."

Similarly, Schneider said that Arroyo had top-15 talent, but was still available with the 50th overall pick due to knee injuries in college and only one full season of playing time at Miami.

"This guy can run an extensive route tree," Macdonald said. "To have to account for a tight end body on the field and him also to be able to split out wide, do X receiver type of things, bigger body that we probably have right now on our roster, just provides a ton of value. Then he's going to throw it in there as the actual tight end in-line and be able to create some of those bigger personnel formations is the vision that we have for him. Really exciting."

Despite the relatively limited sample size at Miami, Arroyo is confident in his ability to be a well-rounded tight end and not just a receiving option.

"I’m an elite competitor," Arroyo said. "You look on film, you know exactly what you’re going to get with me. Tremendous effort and everything out of me, just in general. In the passing game, I can stretch the field. I’m basically like a receiver out there. I can run every route on the route tree. I understand how to get open, I understand zones. I feel like I’m a great overall tight end.

Arroyo caught 35 passes for 590 yards and seven touchdowns during his final season with the Hurricanes last fall.

Meanwhile, Milroe became just the third quarterback drafted by the Seahawks in 15 years with Schneider as general manager, joining Russell Wilson (75th pick, 2012) and Alex McGough (220th pick, 2018).

"He's an incredible athlete," Schneider said. "Very, very fast. I think literally it's 21.2, something like that, his GPS speed. Hard worker. He's a William Campbell Award, Academic Heisman Award winner. Has had four different offensive coordinators. Works his tail off. Mom, former Navy. Dad is a Marine. He came in on a visit, had a really great visit."

Milroe had a terrific junior year at Alabama, throwing for 2,834 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions while also rushing for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns. The passing numbers regressed slightly last year, with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, but his rushing numbers were even better with 726 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground.

"Quarterbacks that extend the play are incredibly difficult to defend," Macdonald said. "The worst feeling in the world is you play the first play of the play perfectly on defense, you defend it. ‘All right, sweet. We did it.’ Then the guy still has the ball. You’ve got to defend the next play, sometimes a third play. He can kill you in the first play, the second play, the third play. It's not a fun existence to live consistently. He has that ability."

While new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was able to work with Taysom Hill with the New Orleans Saints, in having a second quarterback on the field in certain packages, Milroe isn't the same type of fit for such a role. If he does see the field in similar ways with Seattle, it's not going to be the same usage as Hill saw with the Saints.

"Taysom is such a great player," Macdonald said. "The way they used him was more in a tight end-fullback hybrid role, sometimes taking snaps. Jalen is a quarterback through and through. He's going to be trained to play quarterback for us. When he's in there, he's going to be playing quarterback. But the athleticism is going to come to life when he's on the field. That's how he's going to help us."

Milroe said he felt that Seattle was the right spot for him and his visit with the Seahawks in the draft process left a strong impression.

"It’s all about that right spot and I know I’m in the right spot moving forward," Milroe said.

"I know this community of people that believe in me, that’s all in on me. I felt that from the jump when I visited Seattle for my 30 visit and being around the coaching staff. It’s great vibes so I just enjoyed my whole journey while I was there. … You walk differently, you play differently and you have an army behind you. And that’s what I have. I’m super excited about it just knowing that I’m going into a culture that’s wanting to win, that’s wanting to achieve great things and I’m going to bring that as a rookie and throughout my whole time in Seattle."

Milroe has warts in his game. Scouting reports on Milroe note his erratic footwork at times, his small hand size, which has led to 29 fumbles over the last three seasons, and inconsistent ball placement. However, Milroe is confident in his ability to continue to improve at the NFL level.

"There’s nothing I can’t do on a football field," he said. "Are there things I can improve on? Absolutely. But, there’s nothing I can’t do on the football field. I’ve thrown every type of touchdown, stepped up in the pocket, thrown on the run, going through my progressions, I’ve thrown a check-down, I’ve used my legs. When you’re looking at it, whatever you want on the field, I can do it. I say that humbly, it’s not arrogant. It’s more just knowing what I bring to the table and knowing I bring a different dynamic when it comes to being on the football field that I know I’m going to utilize in the NFL."

The Seahawks have five more picks scheduled for the final day of the draft with one fourth-round pick and two selections each in the fifth and seventh rounds. Schneider said they're willing to move around the draft board for the right player.

"I think pliable is what I would say," he said. "We definitely have specific guys we'd like to add. We'll go back in there for a minute and talk about it. How do we maneuver to get to those spots to make sure we acquire those guys is the plan. But I would say pliable."

The Source: Original reporting from FOX 13 Seattle.