Rodney
Thomas II.
Rodney
Thomas II.
Yale
"A Yale linebacker who moved to safety for one season, tested like a starter at his pro day, and repaid the 239th pick with four interceptions as a rookie and two years as an NFL starting safety."Pre-draft read
An Ivy League convert who played linebacker at Yale as a junior and moved to safety for his final season, and the tape reads exactly like that. He triggers downhill without hesitation, takes on blockers rather than running around them and finishes tackles in the box the way a converted linebacker should.
The coverage instincts came faster than anyone expected. He posted 11 pass breakups and two interceptions in his one year at safety, including a 48-yard pick-six, playing mostly as a single-high and box rotation defender. His pro day was the argument for the late pick: 4.51 in the forty with a 41-inch vertical and a 7.02 three-cone at 196 pounds. The questions were the level of competition and whether he could carry NFL slot receivers.
A single-high or split-safety defense that keeps him near the line of scrimmage and lets him play forward toward the football.
Year 1: fourth safety and special teams core. Ceiling: a starting strong safety in a run-first defensive front.
A heavy man-coverage scheme that parks him over slot receivers, where his one year of safety technique gets exposed vertically.
His best NFL football came playing downhill next to a rangier free safety.
Every Rodney Thomas II rookie-season interception
All four picks from his 2022 rookie year.
2022 Yale S Rodney Thomas pro day
The testing workout that earned him the seventh-round pick.
Rodney Thomas II first career interception, Colts vs. Broncos
October 6, 2022 interception in his fourth NFL game.
Thomas grew up in Pittsburgh and played at Central Catholic High School, where he was a first-team all-conference defensive back, a member of the 2015 state championship team and the 2016 district champions and state runners-up. He also played wide receiver, ran track as team captain and made the Western Pennsylvania Football Gold All-Academic Team in 2017. He is related to retired All-Pro fullback and tight end Keith Byars.
At Yale he was a backup defensive back in 2017 with five appearances and no recorded defensive production. He broke through in 2018 with 44 tackles, five pass breakups, two interceptions and a fumble returned for a touchdown against Mercer across nine games.
His 2019 season at linebacker was the one that put him on scouting radars: nine starts, 39 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions, five breakups and a forced fumble, earning honorable mention All-Ivy and an Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week award for his game against Fordham. The Ivy League canceled the 2020 season for the pandemic, and when football returned in 2021 he had moved to safety, where he led the defense with 50 tackles and added two interceptions, 11 breakups and a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown. He measured 6-1 3/4 and 196 pounds at his pro day.
- 01
Explosive pro day testing
4.51 in the forty, a 41-inch vertical and a 7.02 three-cone are starter-level numbers at any level of football.
- 02
Downhill tackler
his linebacker background shows up in how quickly he fills the alley and how rarely ball carriers fall forward on him.
- 03
Ball production everywhere he lined up
six interceptions and 21 pass breakups across three seasons of real snaps at Yale.
- 04
Position versatility
he has legitimate tape at linebacker, in the box and as a deep safety, which is how late picks survive cutdowns.
- 05
Football intelligence and character
an academic honoree who learned a new position well enough to lead his defense in tackles in one year.
- 01
Ivy League competition
he never faced the receiver speed or the volume of NFL-caliber route runners that Power Five safeties see weekly.
- 02
One season at the position
his coverage rules and deep-third leverage were still being built when he declared for the draft.
- 03
Slot coverage questions
he is more comfortable driving on throws in front of him than mirroring quickness in man.
- 04
Slight frame
at 196 pounds he plays his best football taking on blockers, a collision diet that is hard to sustain at that weight.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Yale | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Yale | 9 | 44 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 2019 | Yale | 9 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 2021 | Yale | 10 | 50 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| Career | — | 33 | 133 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 1 |
Figures come from Yale's official cumulative season statistics. The Ivy League canceled the 2020 season because of the pandemic, so no row is listed for that year. His 2018 line appears in the official table split across two name entries in the feed, 'Ii, Thomas' and 'Thomas II, Rodney'; combined they match his official bio exactly at nine games and 44 tackles.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Undrafted-caliber safety who stuck for years by starting in spurts and covering kicks.
Late-round safety whose instincts and ball production turned into a long starting career.
Box safety who lost the starting job once coverage responsibilities grew.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Indianapolis took him with the 239th pick and he beat every expectation immediately. As a rookie in 2022 he played 16 games with ten starts, recorded 52 tackles and four interceptions for 51 return yards, and added six pass breakups, one of the most productive rookie seasons any seventh-round defensive back had that year. He entered 2023 as the starting strong safety and started 15 of 17 games with 34 tackles, four breakups and two more interceptions.
The last two Indianapolis seasons were a slide back down the depth chart. He appeared in all 17 games in 2024 but started only one and finished with seven tackles, then played all 17 again in 2025 with no starts and 21 tackles as a core special teams player. Seattle signed him to a one-year contract on March 16, 2026 and he is currently on the Seahawks practice squad. Four seasons in: 68 games, 26 starts, 114 tackles, six interceptions and ten passes defensed. For pick 239 out of Yale, two years as an NFL starter is a clear win regardless of what happens next.