Rodney Thomas II certainly sounds like a Mike Macdonald-type safety, at least according to how Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen described the Seattle Seahawks free agent signee. Thomas has to earn his roster spot still, of course, but he could even evolve into a starter.
Seattle might have an open spot next to Julian Love as 2025 starter Coby Bryant signed with the Chicago Bears this offseason. Ty Okada might be the presumed favorite to replace Bryant, but the team likely has an open competition for a spot Thomas could take.
Speaking at the NFL annual meetings this week, Steichen said of Thomas, "Very smart, cerebral. Did a lot of good things. He was the multiple (safety) on the back end for us, and he was our personal protector on punts. But very smart guy, obviously an Ivy League guy. So I’m excited for his opportunity in Seattle."
Colts head coach Shane Steichen excited about Rodney Thomas's opportunity with the Seattle Seahawks
Thomas went to college at Yale, so one would assume he has high-end intelligence both on the field and off it. Macdonald values smart safeties, and his scheme requires players at the position to adjust in pre-snap alignments quite a bit while playing multiple roles.
A free safety is not boxed into that role, for instance, just as a strong safety isn't. The players could overlap roles, but knowing what each spot needs to do on any given snap is a must. Thomas brings the kind of high football IQ needed to do just that.
The question is whether he has the physical skills needed to be a starter. In the first four seasons of his career, all with the Colts, he began as a full-time starter in his first two seasons, and had six interceptions and allowed seven touchdown passes.
In his second season, he started 15 games, but he had a poor quarterback rating allowed of 110.7, according to Pro Football Reference (other sites have his quarterback rating slightly lower). That may be one reason that in the past two seasons combined, Thomas has only one start and played only 11 percent of defensive snaps.
In other words, the Colts gave up on Rodney Thomas II relatively fast, and once they did, he had no opportunity to regain his footing as a starter. Was he simply a poor fit for what Indianapolis wanted to do defensively, or is he simply not good enough to start?
The Seattle Seahawks will learn the answer to that in training camp, of course. Mike Macdonald isn't going to put a player on the field who can't work in his scheme. Or the head coach could unlock Thomas's potential in a way Indy couldn't.