Field Gulls
Now that we’re full-on into the playoffs, it’s time to stop looking in the rearview with our Secret Superstars series, and start looking forward to the next game with Postseason X-Factors. The principle is the same — using game tape and metrics to uncover those hidden gems for every team who are primed to bring their best when their franchises need it the most.
For the Seattle Seahawks, who are preparing to face the San Francisco 49ers for the second time in January — this time in the divisional round on Saturday night (8:00 p.m. EST, FOX), the plan should be to put the same defense out there that shoved Brock Purdy and his friends into a locker in a 13-3 Week 18 beatdown. Key among the players who made that domination happen was linebacker Drake Thomas, who has been a pleasant surprise all season long.
How do you know when a team is well-coached?
There are all kinds of obvious indicators for this, but one way you know that a team has coaching that is above the mark is when, all of a sudden, guys you’ve never heard of before are becoming stars out of the blue. This has been a feature for the Seattle Seahawks’ defense under head coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde all season long. Seattle has the NFL’s best defense by DVOA, and that is easy to see on the field when you watch the clear standouts like Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Ernest Jones, Devon Witherspoon, and Nick Emmanwori.
But on any championship-level team, there are also players who come out of nowhere to succeed on the field. With the Seahawks, you can point to pass-rushers Uchenna Nwosu and Derrick Hall, Josh Jobe and Julian Love in the secondary, and certainly linebacker Drake Thomas.
Thomas came out of North Carolina State in the 2023 draft and first signed as an undrafted free agent with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Seahawks picked him up on waivers on August 30, 2023. It was a gradual climb for Thomas — he spent most of his rookie season on injured reserve, elevated himself to special-teamer status in 2024, and finally got his shot as a starting linebacker as the 2025 season progressed. This season, Thomas has four sacks, 17 total pressures, 56 solo tackles, 24 stops, 10 tackles for loss, and in coverage, he’s allowed 40 catches on 62 targets for 250 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 72.8.
“Just a determined, really good football player,” Macdonald said of the 6’0”, 223-pound Thomas in October. “He does things like that a big linebacker does. He has power, he has strike, he tackles, he can cover in space and like press into people – where sometimes guys that are a little shorter, sometimes you worry about that, but he does those things. He does those things through his ability and his anticipation. So yeah, it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty awesome.”...
