Drake Thomas turned one strong season into a much bigger opportunity in Seattle.
The Seahawks linebacker went from backup duty to playing at something close to Pro-Bowl level in 2026, and the payoff came with a two-year, $8 million deal that keeps him in the mix for even more responsibility. After the first three games of the season, Thomas surged into a major playmaking role and finished the regular season with 96 total tackles, 47 solo tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, eight pass breakups, and an interception in Week 18 of the season.
That rise matters because Thomas has already carved out a clear place in Mike Macdonald’s defense. Seattle’s Dark Side Defense is built on a shared attitude: every defender is supposed to get physical and make one player feel like two.
Thomas fits that mindset with the kind of versatility Macdonald wants throughout the unit. He can work in the middle of the field in zone, blitz from the edge or inside, and handle man or zone coverages.
Thomas’s path to this point started with a crowded recruiting board. He had nearly two dozen college offers, including Alabama, Clemson and Tennessee, but stayed home and chose NC State.
There, his natural, balanced skill set showed up quickly. As a freshman, he played all 12 regular-season games and started a few.
Over 47 games, including three seasons as a full-time starter, he piled up 293 total tackles, 136 solo tackles, 46 tackles for loss, 19 sacks, four interceptions and nine pass breakups.
Even with that production, Thomas went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft. The knock was his lack of explosiveness and smaller frame.
At 5-11, he doesn’t look like a prototype linebacker, but he has found ways to make up for it. His game is built on anticipation, smart pursuit angles and knowing where the ball is headed before the play fully unfolds.
The first two seasons of his Seahawks career were about learning and sharpening the edges of his game. He developed into a steadier run defender and a cleaner coverage player before everything clicked last season.
Once it did, Thomas showed he could do a little bit of everything. He was a key tackler, a useful piece in coverage and a player Seattle could move around to create pressure.
There are limits to the profile, though. Thomas doesn’t bring the kind of elite traits that erase every problem.
He can be vulnerable to shifty route-runners, speedy receivers and contested catches. He also looks like a strong fit for Seattle’s 4-2-5 defense more than a plug-and-play answer elsewhere.
Still, the Seahawks clearly saw enough to bring him back, and the contract gives him a chance to keep building on last year’s breakout. If Thomas keeps playing this way, he has a real shot to hold onto a starting role and stay one of the more underrated, dependable pieces on the Dark Side Defense.
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3 Overlooked Seahawks Could Become Mike Macdonald Favorites Fast
Chazz Surratt, Rylie Mills and Rodney Thomas II are the kind of depth players who can quietly reshape a roster if a coaching staff finds the right lane for them. Surratt has already carved out a useful niche on special teams, while Mills has flashed enough in limited work to suggest there may be more there once Seattle asks him to do more.
The appeal with all three is different, but the common thread is fit, and Mike Macdonald has a track record of making those kinds of players matter. Mills is pushing for a bigger role after an encouraging start, and Thomas is the sort of backup safety who could benefit from a fresh start in a new system, which is exactly the kind of bet Seattle tends to make when it sees something worth developing. [Read more 🡒]