South Carolina Safety Nick Emmanwori Expected to be Top Performer at NFL Combine

South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori was tabbed as the potential top performer at the NFL combine.

The NFL Combine is next week and it is one of the last opportunities for players to boost their draft stock before the draft arrives in the month of April. Sometimes a strong performance at the combine is all a player needs to lock themselves down as a first-round prospect or even boost them into the first overall pick range.

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman released his 'freak list' of players that could show off at the combine next week. One former South Carolina Gamecock that made the list was safety Nick Emmanwori and Feldman penciled him at the No. 1 spot on the list.

"For a while, he was the best-kept secret in the SEC," Feldman wrote. "He made 156 tackles in his first two seasons of college football, including 24 in two games against Georgia. He was No. 11 on the 2024 Freaks List after he put up spectacular numbers last offseason, broad-jumping 11-4, vertical-jumping 42 inches and completing 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press in addition to squatting 565 pounds. The former three-star recruit was lights-out again last season, earning first-team All-America honors after leading the team with 88 tackles, to go with four interceptions and three tackles for loss. He turned 21 this month. At 6 feet 3 inches and 220 pounds, he ran, I’m told, a 4.35 in the 40 last week."

Emmanwori has been mentioned a few times in mock drafts this offseason as a potential first round pick but more times than not he is in the early second round range. However, if he is the top overall performer at the entire event, not only would that lock him inside the first round but that would have him as the first safety off of the board likely.