Xavier Nwankpa (born December 8, 2003) is an American professional football safety for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Early life Nwankpa attended Southeast Polk High School in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. During his high school career he had 16 interceptions. He was selected to play in the 2022 All-American Bowl. A five-star recruit, Nwankpa committed to the University of Iowa to play college football. He was the highest rated recruit to ever commit to Iowa.
College career Nwankpa played in 12 games his true freshman year at Iowa in 2022 and made his first career start in the 2022 Music City Bowl, where he had an interception returned for a touchdown. He finished the season with 12 tackles. He returned to Iowa as a starter his sophomore year in 2023, making 12 starts, recording 42 tackles, one sack, and one interception. Nwankpa started 10 games as a junior in 2024, recording 41 tackles. During his senior season in 2025, Nwankpa moved to free safety and established a career high in tackles (76). He was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after the win over Penn State and, after the regular season, named third-team All-Big Ten by conference coaches.
College statistics Legend Bold Career high
Year Team Games Tackles Fumbles Interceptions GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck FF FR Yds TD Int Yds TD PD 2022 Iowa 12 1 12 11 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 52 1 1 2023 Iowa 14 12 42 27 15 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 2024 Iowa 13 10 41 29 12 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2025 Iowa 13 13 76 50 26 0.0 2 0 0 0 1 28 0 0 Career 52 36 171 117 54 1.0 2 0 0 0 3 80 1 4
Professional career
Nwankpa signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 2026.
In Week 4, Nwankpa had his first career interception off a pass by Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins at the 36-yard line in opposing territory, which would wound up be the game-winning play with one second left to play in the 30-27 win against the Raiders.
References
External links Iowa Hawkeyes bio