One of the most iconic Steelers of the 2000s has been strong safety Troy Polamalu. If his flowing mane didn't identify him on the football field, his style of play would on its own. Polamalu plays football with reckless abandon. He can line up all over the defense and has the foot speed to drop into deep zone coverage from the line of scrimmage or rush the quarterback from his natural DB position. He plays safety like a linebacker, and his versatility can confuse quarterbacks and make the job easier for his fellow defenders. The problem with Troy Polamalu is that he's been in the league for ten years and age does not look kindly on a player with his physical nature. Between Polamalu and fellow veteran safety Ryan Clark, man-games will be lost throughout an NFL season. There has to be a player who can step in and adequately produce in their absences.
The Steelers traded a 2014 3rd round pick for the Browns' 2013 4th round pick to select Shamarko Thomas, a safety from Syracuse. The fact that Kevin Colbert anted up as much as he did for the opportunity to draft Thomas tells you how important he could be to the Steelers. Thomas is a thick, physical safety who played around the line of scrimmage a lot during his career. He's strong and he's fast. He can defend the run and he can cover slot receivers. He's got character. Any of this sound familiar yet? It should, because it's all the stuff I just said about Troy Polamalu.
I'm not going to anoint anyone "the next Polamalu" because I'm not sure Thomas can do this. What Thomas appears to be is the future replacement for Troy Polamalu, and there is a difference. His versatility has to appeal to Dick LeBeau, and one can expect him to spend the next few years learning to see the game the way Polamalu can from behind the Steeler defense. His pursuit ability and aggressiveness should get him substantial time on special teams this year (where Steelers have traditionally cut their teeth) and hopefully fill in for Polamalu or Clark if and when the need arises. It's possible he sees time as a nickel DB to cover a slot receiver, but with the Steelers' wealth of young cornerbacks from recent drafts, it's more likely that Thomas just be groomed to play safety.
So if Shamarko Thomas is supposed to be so great, how come he wasn't selected until early in the fourth round? Surely a player with that much potential should have gone higher, right? Well, here's the downside: He's only 5'9". He's thick, not big. His height definitely scared teams away, teams who rely on their safeties to cover receivers one-on-one. He isn't much of a ballhawk either, and while there are a hundred factors that lead to an interception (one of them usually being luck), it's a stat that scouts can look at and judge. On many NFL teams, there's no room for an undersized safety who doesn't catch the ball. The Steelers are not necessarily one of those teams.
The safety position, and specifically Troy Polamalu's position, require someone who can read plays, get into traffic, and make a tackle. Shamarko Thomas is a ferocious tackler. It remains to be seen how well he will learn to read NFL offenses, but he made plays in college. Given that the Steelers' defense primarily uses zone coverage, Thomas won't be asked to cover a man one-on-one very often, so his height is less of an issue in Pittsburgh than it might be elsewhere. There are parts of his game that he will have to adjust, like wrapping up a ball carrier instead of trying to lay the big hit. He'll have to learn how to read NFL quarterbacks instead of the putrid passers of the Big East.
But those are things that come with coaching. Carnell Lake did a tremendous job with the defensive backs last year and he'll be given a fairly raw but extremely driven athlete to work with in Thomas. Pittsburgh offers the perfect situation for him; a team where he can play sparingly as he learns the system and develops better habits on the field. If everything goes as planned, he can take over for Troy Polamalu when the superhuman safety either decides to quit or his body gives out on him. That's still a few years away, but that will be plenty of time to prepare for the future.
Note: This has little to do with Thomas' ability as a football player, but every Steeler fan should know this. His mother died of heart disease prior to the 2010 season and his father died in a motorcycle accident nine months later. Thomas is the oldest of six children who lost their parents within a year of each other. He became the head of his household and considered entering the NFL Draft a year early, but ultimately stayed in school to finish his degree to help provide for his family in the long term. I don't even feel like I have the right to form an opinion on him knowing that, but I'll say that he seems to know how to make a good life decision. I couldn't have more respect for Shamarko Thomas, knowing how he handled that situation.
And on a lighter note, how cool of a first name is Shamarko?
