Sometimes, I feel like Earl Thomas is criminally underrated

ensett":3b4dk49w said:

the ONLY downside to Earl is that his hands are pretty bad. He drops more ints than he catches. But when thats your biggest problem as a DB, youre in good shape.

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That's a lunatic observation. Marcus Trufant has bad hands for a DB . . . The only Earl lacks in regards to INT's is opportunities. When you playing single deep safety, its very rare to be in position for clear INT's. 90% of the time you are running full speed just to converge with the ball or pass catcher.

McGruff":g54e5xv3 said:

Winston Guy sucked pretty bad the few times he was on the field.

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I'm not sure if it's what you're trying to do, but Winston and Earl aren't direct comparables. I'm not trying to defend him, because Winston did have his struggles, but he's much more of a Kam Chancellor than he is an Earl Thomas. Winston gets up in the box, brings the blitz and plays the run. He has nowhere near the skills to play the single high like Earl does. Nobody on the team does and very few guys in the league do. I was hoping that LeGree kid would work out, but it turns out he was a spaz...

I think Winston will be a contributor as he gets more up to speed with the pro game and what Pete wants him to do. He's like the Bruce Irvin of the secondary; lots of tools, just needs to be refined. ...I think.

CANHawk":ja6gn8ph said:

McGruff":ja6gn8ph said:

Winston Guy sucked pretty bad the few times he was on the field.

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I'm not sure if it's what you're trying to do, but Winston and Earl aren't direct comparables. I'm not trying to defend him, because Winston did have his struggles, but he's much more of a Kam Chancellor than he is an Earl Thomas. Winston gets up in the box, brings the blitz and plays the run. He has nowhere near the skills to play the single high like Earl does. Nobody on the team does and very few guys in the league do. I was hoping that LeGree kid would work out, but it turns out he was a spaz...

I think Winston will be a contributor as he gets more up to speed with the pro game and what Pete wants him to do. He's like the Bruce Irvin of the secondary; lots of tools, just needs to be refined. ...I think.

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Someone earlier mentioned replacing Kam with Guy . . . And I just don't see it. That's what I was responding to.

I don't wanna lose Bam Bam either....hope they get an extension done. :180670:

I do too. Echoing what others have said, I love Sherm, but Earl is the best and most important player on the defense.

Kam is replaceable in my opinion, he has unique size, but not a unique skillset. I don't think Pete would do it, especially with how much Kam plays up as the 8th man in the box, but I'd love to replace him with a better pass defender, like another Earl-esque Safety. Not necessarily undersized and likely wouldn't be as elite speed as Earl, but someone who gives Earl freedom to roam. With Kam, Earl is restricted to center field most of the time. Scheme wise it doesn't make sense, but in my madden infested brain I'd want another more FS type out there.

If I had to blow up the team and could only keep 2 players, they would undoubtedly be Russell Wilson and Earl Thomas. On such a talented team there is nothing underrated about that. He is the MVP of the defense about as much as Russ is the MVP of the offense. If someone doesn't see that then they aren't paying attention.

It's hard for me to say that ET is under-rated. He is an All-Pro and Pro-Bowler and he's been on the Top 100 in the NFL too. To me, he is the spark that creates the wildfire that is our defense, much like Lofa used to before his body gave up on him. Earls abilities on the field are what give the other 3 DBs the freedom to do what they do best.

It's already been stated but I think it's important enough to say it again... Earl might let balls go through his hands but he is the ONLY guy in the league that can get to where these balls are. And let's not pretend that he has bad hands, many of his INTs are pretty spectacular and an ode to his athletic ability. And of course what he can do after the catch is just insane (reference the Buffalo INT this last year if you've forgotten). Simply put, most other Free Safeties out there don't even get within 2 steps of some of the balls that Earl is getting to.

To me, Earl isn't under rated, he is respected by his peers and the coaches, and the press. What he is, is a guy who until this last year was on a BAD BAD Seattle team that nobody had any reason to pay attention to. Sherman might be the mouth of the LoB, but if you ask me, Earl is the Heart, and the catalyst for what has made them the best Secondary in Football.

P.s. I met Earl's Father, Earl Thomas Jr. and that guy is awesome. He pulled me aside on the way into the Clink before the Cowboys game and pointed to my #29 jersey and said "What do you know about that player?" To which I replied "Earl is my favorite, he's a freaking stud." He looks at me and says " That's my son", he reaches for his wallet and shows me his Texas drivers license and then shows me a pair of Texas Longhorn Big 12 Championship rings from when Earl played in college, one on each hand. We spoke for a few more minutes (mostly me being in awe and blabbering on about how great it is to meet him and so on) we took a picture together and went our separate ways. That was pretty cool.

I like where ET is in the minds of those who pay attention to that kinda stuff...

In the weeds, wearing camo, and carrying a loaded weapon.

Any more hype, and it's just showing off.

Earl's gonna get the big bucks.

Deservedly.

Just saw a Safety Rankings, Earl rated #6 and Kam #11, don't think they are over looked or under ranked at all.

Tech Worlds":26j9cxpr said:

Nice post. And i agree with you. Earl has crazy range and is a beast in run support at the line of scrimmage.

I also think your avatar is criminally underrated and under appreciated

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Not to mention undersized! (Not Earl, the avatar). Blow that baby up!

McGruff":18w5cyxc said:

CANHawk":18w5cyxc said:

McGruff":18w5cyxc said:

Winston Guy sucked pretty bad the few times he was on the field.

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I'm not sure if it's what you're trying to do, but Winston and Earl aren't direct comparables. I'm not trying to defend him, because Winston did have his struggles, but he's much more of a Kam Chancellor than he is an Earl Thomas. Winston gets up in the box, brings the blitz and plays the run. He has nowhere near the skills to play the single high like Earl does. Nobody on the team does and very few guys in the league do. I was hoping that LeGree kid would work out, but it turns out he was a spaz...

I think Winston will be a contributor as he gets more up to speed with the pro game and what Pete wants him to do. He's like the Bruce Irvin of the secondary; lots of tools, just needs to be refined. ...I think.

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Someone earlier mentioned replacing Kam with Guy . . . And I just don't see it. That's what I was responding to.

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Ah, I see. Well... maybe if Kam got hurt and Jeron Johnson got locked in a bathroom or something, but other than that no way. Kam is mannnnn.

chris98251":2rsmxqes said:

Just saw a Safety Rankings, Earl rated #6 and Kam #11, don't think they are over looked or under ranked at all.

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Earl should be way higher than that. He's mininum a top 3 safety in the NFL. And personally I think he's the top safety.

JKent82":3r7eahwi said:

I do too. Echoing what others have said, I love Sherm, but Earl is the best and most important player on the defense.

Kam is replaceable in my opinion, he has unique size, but not a unique skillset. I don't think Pete would do it, especially with how much Kam plays up as the 8th man in the box, but I'd love to replace him with a better pass defender, like another Earl-esque Safety. Not necessarily undersized and likely wouldn't be as elite speed as Earl, but someone who gives Earl freedom to roam. With Kam, Earl is restricted to center field most of the time. Scheme wise it doesn't make sense, but in my madden infested brain I'd want another more FS type out there.

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What you're asking for is a return of the dreaded cover-2 defense. I'll pass on that, thanks.

misfit":19ey9upo said:

chris98251":19ey9upo said:

Just saw a Safety Rankings, Earl rated #6 and Kam #11, don't think they are over looked or under ranked at all.

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Earl should be way higher than that. He's mininum a top 3 safety in the NFL. And personally I think he's the top safety.

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This!

The Hawks just don't get any respect or attention. Dissed again

What makes me want to punch a wall is when the pundits say someone is easily replaced in the draft (or along those lines). When was the last friggin' time we had someone like ET in the deep backfield who opposing offenses dare not test? If it were so darned easy to replace we'd have ET caliber Safeties there every year.

SmokinHawk":2s4m7hlo said:

JKent82":2s4m7hlo said:

I do too. Echoing what others have said, I love Sherm, but Earl is the best and most important player on the defense.

Kam is replaceable in my opinion, he has unique size, but not a unique skillset. I don't think Pete would do it, especially with how much Kam plays up as the 8th man in the box, but I'd love to replace him with a better pass defender, like another Earl-esque Safety. Not necessarily undersized and likely wouldn't be as elite speed as Earl, but someone who gives Earl freedom to roam. With Kam, Earl is restricted to center field most of the time. Scheme wise it doesn't make sense, but in my madden infested brain I'd want another more FS type out there.

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What you're asking for is a return of the dreaded cover-2 defense. I'll pass on that, thanks.

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Now now now, no one wants that! I just want two Earls. That's easy to find right?

If Earl had 'better hands' he'd probably be an all-pro Wide Receiver.....they usually make more money than safeties.

So think about it, what was PC and JS's first defensive draft choice? Not a big DT to stuff the run, or a speedy edge player, but rather, an undersized free safety. And why would that be? Because, PC and JS know that E. Thomas tilts the entire field and allows the defense to flow downhill into the opposing offenses grill. They won't be giving up on that ability anytime soon.

misfit":2un17ib6 said:

So I was listening to Brock and whatever show today, and they were talking about what a lot of us on here have been talking about, about who we need to extend as Schneider was talking about with Clayton on Saturday. The main point of the discussion was of the young stars on this team, who should be the top priority to resign (Okung, Kam, Earl, Tate). Sherman and Russell were excluded since the Hawks can't even negotiate with them due to the new CBA.

There were quite a few people calling in and talking about Earl being a priority, buy the guys on the radio seemed to be talking crazy. They said that obviously Sherman would be a priority eventually, but were talking about how both safeties, Earl included, would be easier to replace in the draft, and that Seattle could move forward if they needed too without taking too much of a hit. Then Tom Wasl(sp?) went on to say that he thought Earl had a off year and wasn't that good this year.

I think Earl gets underrated, probably more by the casual fan then on here, but Earl makes this whole defense go. I know he doesn't have the huge int #'s that people look at first, and that didn't really start clicking until the playoffs. Without earl, you can't bring Kam down in the box and play as much 1 single high safety as you do. And as good as Browner is, I don't think you can get away with having a corner at his speed without someone like Earl to cover things on the back end.

Am I alone here?

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You must have only heard parts of that conversation. Brock and Chris both acknowledged that Earl was a special kind of talent and a quiet leader. Both thought that Kam or Brandon were more likely to either get traded or take pay cuts.

And he did sort of disappear mid season.