Earl Thomas Is a Seattle Seahawk
Safety Earl Thomas was the only Texas Longhorn to hear his named called in the First Round of the 2010 NFL Draft, going 14th overall to the Seattle Seahawks.
Earl Thomas is a Seattle Seahawk. Thomas was taken with the 14th pick and was the second safety drafted following Tennessee's Eric Berry, who went No. 5 overall to the Kansas City Chiefs. Thomas getting drafted this high comes as no surprise because he'd improved his stock significantly throughout the draft process, most notably with his 4.35 40 at Texas' pro-day workouts. Not only was Thomas the first player taken from Texas, but the early picks in general were dominated by the Big 12 Conference. Along with Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford being the first pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, all of the first four selections were from the Big 12 Conference, with Bradford followed by Nebraska DT Ndomukong Suh, Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy and Oklahoma OT Trent Williams. Following Berry's selection at No. 5, Oklahoma State OT Russell Okung also went to the Seattle Seahawks, giving the Big 12 five of the top six picks (full list of First Round picks). The selection of Thomas by the Seahawks gave Mack Brown a first round pick in 11 of the last 15 drafts, going back to his days at North Carolina. With his eight interceptions last season Thomas broke a UT single-season record which had previously been tied but not broken for 69 years. He was named a first-team All-American by the WCFF and AFCA and was a finalist for the Thorpe Award (nation's top DB). He lost out on that award to Berry, but Thomas was awarded the 2009 Defensive Back Trophy by the College Football Performance Awards. For his career at UT, which just lasted two seasons on the field and one redshirt year, Thomas started all 26 games and posted 143 tackles (96 solo), eight TFL, 10 INTs, 33 PBU and five forced fumbles. Discuss the Draft with fellow fans on The Members Only message board Follow Inside Texas for live Draft updates on Twitter
Earl Thomas is a Seattle Seahawk. Thomas was taken with the 14th pick and was the second safety drafted following Tennessee's Eric Berry, who went No. 5 overall to the Kansas City Chiefs. Thomas getting drafted this high comes as no surprise because he'd improved his stock significantly throughout the draft process, most notably with his 4.35 40 at Texas' pro-day workouts. Not only was Thomas the first player taken from Texas, but the early picks in general were dominated by the Big 12 Conference. Along with Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford being the first pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, all of the first four selections were from the Big 12 Conference, with Bradford followed by Nebraska DT Ndomukong Suh, Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy and Oklahoma OT Trent Williams. Following Berry's selection at No. 5, Oklahoma State OT Russell Okung also went to the Seattle Seahawks, giving the Big 12 five of the top six picks (full list of First Round picks). The selection of Thomas by the Seahawks gave Mack Brown a first round pick in 11 of the last 15 drafts, going back to his days at North Carolina. With his eight interceptions last season Thomas broke a UT single-season record which had previously been tied but not broken for 69 years. He was named a first-team All-American by the WCFF and AFCA and was a finalist for the Thorpe Award (nation's top DB). He lost out on that award to Berry, but Thomas was awarded the 2009 Defensive Back Trophy by the College Football Performance Awards. For his career at UT, which just lasted two seasons on the field and one redshirt year, Thomas started all 26 games and posted 143 tackles (96 solo), eight TFL, 10 INTs, 33 PBU and five forced fumbles. Discuss the Draft with fellow fans on The Members Only message board Follow Inside Texas for live Draft updates on Twitter
