Nick Emmanwori And DQ Smith Earn Freshman All-American Honors

Safety Nick Emmanwori and corner DQ Smith have earned freshman All-American honors for their efforts for South Carolina in 2022.

Safety Nick Emmanwori and corner DQ Smith were two prospects coming out of high school who a lot of Gamecock fans had an inherent interest in since both played high school within 25 minutes of South Carolina's campus. 

While both players potentially had visions of being able to make an impact for the Gamecocks in their freshman campaign, neither player could've probably expected that opportunity to come as quickly as it did.

By week three, when South Carolina was playing the defending national champions in the Georgia Bulldogs, Emmanwori and Smith were playing significant snaps for South Carolina's secondary due to some injuries in the unit.

By the end of the year, Emmanwori had appeared in all twelve regular season games, starting the last eleven for South Carolina, and led the team in total tackles with 78. Meanwhile, Smith started the final ten regular season games, was the team's fourth leading tackler, and was third in pass breakups.

National media outlets recognized their excellence, touting both as Freshman All-Americans. The accolades began to roll in when PFF named Emmanwori to their All-Freshman team.

PFF’s 2022 All-Freshman Team: Defensive edition⭐️ pic.twitter.com/dn9kQkujKR

— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 1, 2022

The College Football News Network followed this up on Tuesday morning by naming Emmanwori a second-team freshman all-American and placing Smith on their third team.

Finally, On3's Director of Scouting, Charles Powers, named Emmanwori a Freshman All-American.

2022 College Football True Freshman All-American Team via @CharlesPower 🔥https://t.co/s3UhW1IdAg pic.twitter.com/NpJKjk1kJN

— On3 (@On3sports) December 6, 2022

The two freshmen defensive backs have already made their presence felt in Columbia, and if they keep progressing at this pace, soon enough, they'll be household names both in the SEC and across college football.

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