With the 17th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select..

[Essex Johnson]

(03-17-2025, 07:29 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Nick Emmanwori, Safety University of South Carolina.

Yeah, I know we need IOL; Yeah, I know that the defense could use help on the pass rush. But what this defense could benefit the most from immediately upon arrival is a lightning bolt that can both cover and tackle well. Nick Emmanwori adds a big body with blazing speed, touts the highest coverage grade and the lowest missed tackle rate (7.2%) by a lot, among all the top Safety prospects. He can play nearly as well in the box, but covers massive amounts of ground in a short period of time in deep coverage, and does a fine job of high-pointing the ball when he gets there. You want a day 1 starter who'll make an impact in year one? Nick Emmanwori is that guy.

If he's on the board at #17 and Duke doesn't break into a full sprint toward the podium, then something is more wrong than I ever thought with this franchise.

Im not a fan at#17 for a safety, don;t feel there is a clear top 20 Safety and feel a bit of a reach pick at #17 but if we do i feel a bit more risk/reward in  Emmanwori and would prefer Starks from Georgia, feel he is the more well rounded safety and with a team that has struggled in tackling and being out of position to make plays, those are two areas where he is deemed stronger than Emmanwori, the depth at #17 is edge rusher and gut says this is where we go but i prefer to trade back, i think some of edge guys and one or both of these safeties will be there in the 20s.