In Earl Thomas’ first three years as an NFL safety, he has started every game the Seahawks have played and made the All-Pro team.
That’s a pretty good way to open a career, especially when you add in two trips to the Pro Bowl and remind yourself once more that Thomas is just three years into his career. It’s not hard to gaze four or five years into the future and see Thomas occupying the elite safety label that Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu wore when they were named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll isn’t making any specific award predictions for Thomas, but his bullishness about Thomas’ future makes one think that such hardware wouldn’t be a stretch.
“There’s no end to the potential Earl has because he’s so fast and he’s so tough, but more than that, he’s just so driven to be great. He’s just driven to be a great player,” Carroll said, via Danny O’Neil of 710 ESPN. “He’s really just kind of hitting it now. He’s just getting going.”
There have been more encouraging pieces of information for opposing offenses to cling to, especially since Thomas is just one part of a secondary that looks to be one of the two or three best in all of football.