The Seahawks’ young star Nick Emmanwori continues gaining ground in the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation. DH

In the fifty NFL seasons the Seattle Seahawks have been in existence, they’ve accomplished some tremendous things on the defensive side of the ball.

The 1984 squad, featuring superstars like safety Kenny Easley, nose tackle Joe Nash, and cornerback Dave Brown, forced an unimaginable 63 turnovers, a super bowl era record that stands to this day.

The 1992 team went 2-14 and still found a way to produce the defensive player of the year, Cortez Kennedy taking home that honor on the back of 92 tackles, 14 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles.

And, of course, the Pete Carroll Seahawks peaked over a four year span from 2012 to 2015, ranking first in the league in points allowed all four seasons, a run of excellence that hadn’t been seen since the Cleveland Browns of the 1950s.

But one accolade has eluded them to this point. No Seahawk has ever won Defensive Rookie of the Year, as handed out by the Associated Press every year in 1967.

They’ve gotten close in recent years. Devon Witherspoon finished fourth in 2023. Tariq Woolen got on the podium in 2022 by finishing third. Bobby Wagner came closer than anyone in 2012 by finishing second.

Nick Emmanwori aims to be the first to take home the award. And based on his last couple games, the only thing that can keep him from doing it is running out of time.

General consensus right now is that it’s a two-man race with Browns’ Linebacker Carson Schwesinger considered the favorite.

For most of the season, he’s been running away with the narrative, to the point where it almost felt like a foregone conclusion. And I certainly couldn’t blame anyone for giving the accolade to Schwesinger.

The stud rookie has played all fourteen games this season for the Browns, racking up 133 tackles, twelve and a half tackles for loss, and two interceptions, while allowing less than 25 yards per game in coverage per Pro Football Focus.

Schwesinger mans the middle for a defense that is elite when the impact of their anemic offense is removed from consideration (3rd in yards allowed, 3rd in EPA, 1st in success rate). Assuming he stays healthy for the last three games, he will accrue over 1,000 snaps.

But Emmanwori has significantly closed the gap. Over the last two games, Emmanwori has put up 13 tackles, 2 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, three passes defensed, and an interception, for a defense that has allowed a combined 25 points. He’s the only player in the league with double digit passes defensed and quarterback pressures.

Of his 60 tackles, 43 of them are solo, and 11 have gone for a loss. And the defense he partakes in is elite by every measure you could apply (2nd in points allowed, 4th in yards allowed, 2nd in EPA, 4th in success rate). And unlike Schwesinger, Emmanwori will almost certainly be playing in the postseason.

Beyond the purely statistical, Emmanwori’s flexibility and range of impact really stands out. Per Pro Football Focus, Nick has lined up as an edge rusher over 60 times, in the box as a linebacker nearly 200 times, and in the slot over 300 times.

Schwesinger usage in Cleveland is much more straightforward, with nearly 94% of his snaps coming as a box linebacker.

Furthermore, Emmanwori’s unique skillset (linebacker size combined with outside corner speed and athleticism) has enabled Seattle to stay in nickel defense consistently all season, even against tight end heavy or jumbo offensive packages, and still be elite defending the run.

The freedom he has given Mike Macdonald to play lighter boxes is valuable beyond what any one number or metric can capture.

Schwesinger’s advantage is, quite simply, playing time. He’s closing in on 850 snaps played, whereas Emmanwori is sitting at under 600. Nick was injured in the first quarter of week one and returned in a partial role in week five, only becoming a true full timer in week six.

That missed time may end up making the difference. But if Seattle’s rookie phenom plays at a high level over the final three games and is a key piece of a division-winning push, there’s every opportunity for him to push into pole position and become the first ever Seahawk Defensive Rookie of the Year.