Seahawks third best player this year is Earl Thomas, maybe
By Lee Vowell
Earl Thomas may not even be with the Seahawks this year. But if he is, he is the third best player on the roster for 2018.
Earl Thomas is an enigma wrapped in a Seahawks uniform wrapped in the heart of Texas. Thomas has been outspoken about his love of the Dallas Cowboys. He even showed that love after Seattle defeated the Cowboys in Dallas last year. Thomas went to the Dallas locker room and seemingly asked to be acquired.
But the free safety is still a member of the Seahawks. Should Seattle sign him to an extension, Thomas would most likely be enamored with Seattle again. Either way, Thomas is currently the third best player in Seattle.
And this last part might mean something deeper. In previous years I might have written that Thomas was the best player on the Seattle roster. But after the last two years, he isn’t anymore. It isn’t that he isn’t good. Thomas is still great. But he is starting to miss time.
After playing all 16 games from 2010 through 2015, Thomas missed five games in 2016 and two in 2017. This could be the sign of an aging player beginning to break down. Thomas uses speed to make him possibly the best free safety in the NFL. But with injuries that speed will begin to diminish.
Still, Thomas is a great player and makes the Seahawks better. The safety dupes good quarterbacks into bad decisions. For instance, after talented rookie Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson burned Seattle for an early score, Thomas got one back.
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And this is the difference between the Seahawks being good and struggling to make the playoffs. No team wants a player that doesn’t want to be playing for them, unless it is a player with the type of talent that Thomas possesses. Seattle doesn’t sniff the playoffs without the future Hall of Fame safety. He is the third best player on the Seahawks roster in 2018.