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Seahawks draft profile: Juan Thornhill might be the answer at safety

By Lee Vowell

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 13: Juan Thornhill #21 of the Virginia Cavaliers intercepts a pass in the second half during a game against the Miami Hurricanes at Scott Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 13: Juan Thornhill #21 of the Virginia Cavaliers intercepts a pass in the second half during a game against the Miami Hurricanes at Scott Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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The Seahawks will be looking to replace Earl Thomas in the 2019 NFL Draft. Could Virginia’s Juan Thornhill be the answer?

Juan Thornhill can run. So could (and assuming he still can) Earl Thomas. Thomas helped make the Seahawks secondary one that could hit hard and cover lots of the field. Teams did not want to throw too much against Seattle earlier this decade. Thomas is now gone. Could Thornhill be his replacement?

If Seattle does stick with their current number 21 pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft (hint: they won’t), it would be a bit fitting. Thornhill wore number 21 for the Cavaliers in college and then would be the 21st pick. Fate, right? More importantly, though, Thornhill has freakish athletic ability.

Strengths

At the NFL Combine, Thornhill had a broad jump of 11 feet and 9 inches. That’s more than I could do. And probably more than you could do too. His vertical jump was 44 inches. That’s a lot. And he ran a 4.42 40 yard dash. Not the best but certainly not the worst. Sure, Thomas was faster but Thornhill is slightly bigger at six feet tall and 210 pounds.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1109624912753373187

As a senior last year with Virginia, Thornhill intercepted six passes and returned those for 141 yards. This means once ballhawking Thornhill has picked off a pass he knows what to do with it. The safety also had 98 total tackles so he isn’t afraid to chase down an opposing ball carrier.

Weakness

Pete Carroll hates when players get beat deep and he will sit a player down when that happens. Thornhill sometimes gets caught trying to make a big play instead of simply playing it safe and can get beat over the top. No matter how great he is physically, Thronhill still needs to maintain discipline.

Next. Earl Thomas flipped off who exactly?. dark

Final thought

The Legion of Boom was known for several things but one of them was taking the ball away from the other team. Seattle hasn’t done that as well without Thomas, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor. Thornhill would help the Seahawks defense get ball to turning the ball over to the offense.

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