Hometown newcomers Nick Emmanwori, DQ Smith turning heads for South Carolina
Pay close enough attention to any college football team this time of year and you’ll recognize the familiar line of preseason questioning. The names change. The questions, for the most part, don’t.
It always trends along some variation of the following formula:
Which (younger guys, freshmen, etc.) are standing out?
What’s the update on (insert here) position battle?
How is the (pick a position group) taking shape?
South Carolina’s roster underwent plenty of reloading and retooling this offseason. That’s led to a bevvy of queries on newcomers and their roles heading into Year 2 under coach Shane Beamer.
Spencer Rattler has dominated headlines, as has talk about the offensive line and a potentially dynamic secondary.
The more unexpected names drawing attention? That’d be freshman safeties Nick Emmanwori (Irmo) and DQ Smith (Spring Valley).
“Nobody’s saying that they’re going to be Ronnie Lott or Ed Reed in Game 1,” Beamer quipped. “But they’ve really done a nice job adjusting to that position, because it wasn’t a position that they were really playing in high school.”
Beamer, 45, might be dating himself with the Lott reference, considering the last year the former San Francisco 49ers star spent in the NFL (1995) was almost a decade before Emmanwori or Smith were born (2004).
The sentiment, though, remains — the local products could figure into the rotation at safety sooner than later. Both were listed as the primary backups at the safety spots when the first depth chart was released Monday.
“That’s been a pleasant development,” Beamer continued. “And really it’s not a surprise. Knowing this group (of safeties), it’s just a group that loves to practice. They really do. They love the work, and they don’t complain and moan.”
Emmanwori has drawn as many rave reviews as any freshman defensive back in recent memory while transitioning from linebacker to the secondary.
Coaches and players have all echoed similar thoughts — he’s a rare combination of size, speed and athleticism.
That checks out.
There aren’t many, if any, safeties in America that stand 6-foot-4, weigh 218 pounds and can run a 40-yard dash in the 4.4- or 4.5-second range, like Emmanwori.
“He’s kind of ahead of the curve when it comes to learning and a lot of times that’s gonna put you ahead of a couple of guys,” defensive coordinator Clayton White said last week. “But then when you’re gifted with talent, size, speed, jumping ability and catching ability — and I can keep going on and on and on — that just makes a complete player.”
That Emmanwori has earned ample offseason attention shouldn’t come as a surprise. He recorded 232 (!!) tackles as a senior at Irmo. He was credited with another 100 stops the year before.
His recruitment, though, was relatively quiet. Emmanwori’s 247Sports profile lists all of four scholarship offers — South Carolina, Richmond, Georgia Southern and Charlotte.
Even South Carolina’s interest came semi-late.
Emmanwori attended a camp at USC during the summer of 2021. His freakish testing numbers earned him a scholarship that day. He publicly committed to the Gamecocks 20 days later — limiting how many programs actually got a look at him.
“Nick is gonna be probably one of the best DBs to come out of South Carolina in these next few years,” senior safety Devonni Reed said. “His size, his length, he can run — you don’t see that often. That is very rare. I’m glad he’s on our side of the ball.”
Whereas Emmanwori played defense for the bulk of his high school career, Smith’s transition and subsequent emergence was harder to foresee.
He played in the secondary in middle school and as a freshman at Spring Valley, but focused on quarterback much of the rest of his prep career. Smith, in theory, could’ve continued as a signal-caller at the college level. Georgia Southern, his other finalist alongside South Carolina, recruited him as a quarterback.
Smith instead signed with the Gamecocks in February as a “blue shirt” — meaning he wasn’t put on scholarship until August in order to count his spot toward USC’s 2023 class.
“I’m an athlete. I know I can do it,” he said of switching positions during his signing ceremony. “It’s not a huge change, especially coming from the quarterback position. It is a huge change mentally, and I am going to be studying everything and getting ready for it. And I will be ready for it, come June.”
The Gamecocks are largely settled at safety with sixth-year senior R.J. Roderick back in the fold. Reed — a Central Michigan transfer — is also expected to fill the role vacated by All-American Jaylan Foster.
That said, there should be snaps up for grabs behind the starters and on special teams.
One-time Washington State transfer Tyrese Ross is the most experienced backup of the group, having played seven games at USC last year and another 17 contests in the three years before that in Pullman.
Emmanwori and Smith each ran with the second team defense at points during the portions of fall camp open to reporters. That should continue into the season.
It’s a good bet neither member of that talented freshman tandem is old enough to know who Lott is. Still, their play through fall camp suggests potential for starring roles down the line — even if they don’t evolve into 10-time Pro Bowlers like the former 49er.
The State’s Lou Bezjak contributed reporting to this story.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
