 Emanuel with the San Diego Chargers in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 51, 56, 52 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1991-08-16)August 16, 1991 (age 33) Schuyler, Nebraska, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Schuyler Central (Schuyler, Nebraska) | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | North Dakota State (2010–2014) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2015: 5th round, 153rd pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Kyle Emanuel (born August 16, 1991) is an American former professionalfootballlinebacker. He won theBuck Buchanan Award in 2014.[1] He playedcollege football forNorth Dakota State University where they won four straightFCS championships. He was selected by theSan Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the2015 NFL draft.
On November 28, 2014, it was announced that Emanuel had accepted his invitation to play in the2015 East-West Shrine Game.[2] On January 17, 2015, Emanuel played in the 2015 East-West Shrine Game and was a part ofJim Zorn's West team that lost the 19–3 to the East.[3] Emanuel attended theNFL Scouting Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Kyle Emanuel’s NFL Combine Workout |
On March 26, 2015, Emanuel participated at North Dakota State'spro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He also attended pre-draft visits with thePittsburgh Steelers,Cleveland Browns, andMinnesota Vikings.[4][5] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Emanuel's draft projections fromNFL draft experts and scouts varied from as early as the third round to as late to the fifth or sixth rounds.[6] He was ranked as the 16th bestoutside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com.[7]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft3+1⁄4 in (1.91 m) | 255 lb (116 kg) | 31 in (0.79 m) | 9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.77 s | 1.79 s | 2.69 s | 4.25 s | 7.10 s | 34 in (0.86 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 27 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine[6] | ||||||||||||
TheSan Diego Chargers selected Emanuel in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the2015 NFL draft.[8] Emanuel was the 19th linebacker drafted in 2015.[9] On May 14, 2015, the Chargers signed Emanuel to a four-year, $2.49 million contract that includes asigning bonus of $218,572.[10]
Throughouttraining camp, Emanuel competed to be a backup outside linebacker againstTourek Williams,Cordarro Law,Colton Underwood,Brock Hekking, andRyan Mueller.[11] Head coachMike McCoy named Emanuel the fourth outside linebacker on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behindMelvin Ingram,Jeremiah Attaochu, and Cordarro Law.[12]
He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Chargers' season-opener against theDetroit Lions and recorded three combinedtackles, deflected a pass, made his first careerinterception, and also made his first careersack in their 33–28 victory. Emanuel made his first career sack and interception on Lions' quarterbackMatthew Stafford. In Week 8, he collected a season-high four combined tackles in the Chargers' 29–26 loss at theBaltimore Ravens. On December 20, 2015, Emanuel recorded two solo tackles before exiting the Chargers' 30–14 win against theMiami Dolphins due to a concussion. He remained inactive for their Week 16 loss against theOakland Raiders due to theconcussion.[13] He finished his rookie season in 2015 with 25 combined tackles (16 solo), one interception, one sack, and apass deflection in 15 games and two starts.[14]
Emanuel entered training camp in 2016 as a backup outside linebacker and competed for a primary backup role against Tourek Williams.[15] Head coach Mike McCoy named Emanuel a starting outside linebacker to begin the regular season, replacing Jeremiah Attachou. He started alongside Melvin Ingram and inside linebackersManti Te'o andDenzel Perryman.[16]
Emanuel was temporarily moved to inside linebacker during the 2016 season after season-ending injuries to Manti Te’o andNick Dzubnar.[17] In Week 13, Emanuel collected a season-high eight combined tackles in the Chargers’ 28–21 loss to theTampa Bay Buccaneers. He finished his second season in 2016 with 58 combined tackles (36 solo), a pass deflection, one forcedfumble, and was credited with half a sack in 16 games and 11 starts.[18]
On January 1, 2017, the Los Angeles Chargers fired head coach Mike McCoy after they finished with a 5–11 record.[19] Defensive coordinatorGus Bradley opted to switch the base defense from a base3-4 defense to a base4-3 defense. Throughout training camp, Emanuel competed to be a starting outside linebacker against Jeremiah Attachou,Jatavis Brown, andKorey Toomer.[20] Head coachAnthony Lynn named Emanuel the starting strongside linebacker to begin the 2017 regular season, alongside Jatavis Brown and middle linebacker Toomer.[21]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| Kyle Emanuel intercepts pass by Matt Stafford |
In Week 7, Emanuel collected a season-high four solo tackles during a 21–0 win against theDenver Broncos. On December 10, 2017, Emanuel recorded two solo tackles, broke up a pass, and made his second career interception in the Chargers’ 30–13 win against theWashington Redskins in Week 14.[22] A hit byMelvin Ingram caused an errant pass by Stafford and was intercepted by Emanuel in the third quarter. He finished the2017 NFL season with 34 combined tackles (21 solo), three pass deflections, 1.5 sacks, and one interception in 16 games and 11 starts.[18]
Emanuel entered training camp slated as the starting strong side linebacker, but saw minor competition for the role from rookiesUchenna Nwosu andKyzir White.[23] Head coach Anthony Lynn named Emanuel the starter to begin the regular season, alongsideJatavis Brown and middle linebackerDenzel Perryman.[24]
On April 4, 2019, Emanuel announced his retirement from the NFL.[25]
Emanuel came out of retirement to sign with theLas Vegas Raiders on August 23, 2020.[26] He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to thepractice squad the next day.[27][28] He was elevated to the active roster on September 26 for the team's week 3 game against theNew England Patriots,[29] and reverted to the practice squad after the game.
On October 12, 2020, Emanuel was signed by theHouston Texans off the Raiders practice squad.[30] He was placed oninjured reserve on November 9, 2020.[31] He was activated on December 5, 2020.[32]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2015 | SDG | 15 | 3 | 25 | 16 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | SDG | 16 | 11 | 58 | 36 | 22 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | LAC | 16 | 11 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | LAC | 16 | 7 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 1.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| 2020 | LVR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HOU | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 71 | 32 | 150 | 95 | 55 | 4.0 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 1 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2018 | LAC | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
In 2019 Emanuel was one of the Hosts of the NDSU Bison Pregame Show on KVLY (NBC).[33] Emanuel worked as freelance broadcaster with KVLY appearing in the NDSU Pre Game Show and the Halftime report. In 2022, Emanuel married attorney and former Miss North Dakota Jaclyn Arness.