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With the departure of future Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu, the Pittsburgh Steelers enter the 2015 season with a huge hole to fill. For the past 12 seasons Polamalu was an automatic, a plug and play player that was the entire heart of the Steeler defense. When he was injured last year the team turned to Will Allen to fill his shoes, but he’s not going to hack it in 2015. The Steelers are going to need the young Shamarko Thomas to step up, and quickly.
Thomas, a fourth round pick in the 2013 draft, is really the best option the Steelers have. The team trotted Thomas out there in nickel packages his rookie year, but struggled mightily and showed his need to develop more. Thomas was then relegated to special teams duties and he started showing glimpses into his potential. So it was no surprise when Allen got the call over Thomas, even though it was pretty clear that Allen wasn’t the optimal choice the Steelers hoped to make.
Aside from his youth and long-term potential, Thomas is the ideal candidate the Steelers need because of his closeness to Polamalu himself. Polamalu took Thomas in as soon as he arrived in Pittsburgh and has been grooming him ever since. That’s no small thing to overlook, especially when you consider the incredible work ethic Polamalu’s always had. There was no finer person in Pittsburgh to help Thomas hone his sometimes reckless playing style. Polamalu is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to playing safety at a high level, and that knowledge is critical to making Thomas everything he can be.
When the Steelers waited until the seventh round of the draft before selecting the free-falling Gerod Holliman, it was clear they felt Thomas was ready to be the guy. And with the team apparently ready to start their recent second-round pick Senquez Golson at corner, there’s going to be a lot of youth and inexperience on the field. Whatever time Thomas had to develop is over, and his play is going to have a huge effect on how well the Steelers’ defense plays in 2015. He’ll need to step it up in a huge way.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
