Drake Thomas
| No. 42 – Seattle Seahawks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | February 25, 2000 Wake Forest, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 228 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Heritage (Wake Forest, North Carolina) | ||||||||
| College | NC State (2019–2022) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2023: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 10, 2025 | |||||||||
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Drake Thomas (born February 25, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack and has also been a member of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Early life
[edit]Thomas was born on February 25, 2000, and grew up in Wake Forest, North Carolina.[1][2] He attended Heritage High School and played as a linebacker and running back, setting the school's record for career tackles with 393 while also having 203 solo stops.[3] Ranked by 247Sports as the 22nd-best player in the state and the 19th-best inside linebacker nationally, Thomas committed to play college football for the NC State Wolfpack.[4]
College career
[edit]As a true freshman at NC State in 2019, Thomas appeared in 12 games, three as a starter, and totaled 34 tackles and one interception.[2] The following season, he started 10 games and had 58 total tackles, ranking 30th in the conference in tackles-per-game and placing fifth on the team.[3] He led the Wolfpack in tackles in 2021 while starting 12 games, earning first-team all-conference and fourth-team All-American honors with 100 total tackles, six sacks and three interceptions.[2][3][5] As a senior in 2022, Thomas was named a team captain and second-team all-conference while compiling 101 tackles and 7.5 sacks.[6][7] He finished his collegiate career with 293 tackles, four interceptions and 19.5 sacks in 47 games played.[7]
Professional career
[edit]| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11+1⁄4 in (1.81 m) |
223 lb (101 kg) |
29+5⁄8 in (0.75 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.70 s | 1.63 s | 2.50 s | 4.31 s | 7.10 s | 36.5 in (0.93 m) |
9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) |
18 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[8] | ||||||||||||
Las Vegas Raiders
[edit]After going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Thomas was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent.[9] He was waived on August 29, 2023.[10]
Seattle Seahawks
[edit]On August 30, 2023, Thomas was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Seahawks.[11] He was placed on injured reserve on November 6.
On July 18, 2024, Thomas was placed on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.[12] On August 12, he was removed from the PUP list after he passed his physical.[13] He played in all seventeen 2024 games including 70% of the special teams snaps and a few dozen snaps on defense. In 2025 as of week 7 he has helped cover injured secondary players and also earned more playing time from his continued performance improvement.[14] Through week 7 he played 50% of defensive snaps, recording 32 combined tackles,16 solo tackles as well as 2 sacks. He also still played 99 snaps on special teams.[15]
Personal life
[edit]Thomas is the younger brother of Denver Broncos wide receiver Thayer Thomas and played with him at NC State.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Drake Thomas Biography". ESPN. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Drake Thomas". NC State Wolfpack.
- ^ a b c Yarris, Brett (April 8, 2023). "Drake Thomas, LB, North Carolina State | NFL Draft Scouting Report". Pro Football Network.
- ^ Pope, Jonas, IV (June 3, 2018). "Heritage LB to join his brother at NC State". The Herald-Sun. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- ^ McLamb, Rob (July 26, 2022). "NC State's Thomas and Moore make Butkus Watch List". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Samra, Bobby (April 1, 2023). "Drake Thomas reveals why he opted to enter 2023 NFL Draft". On3.com.
- ^ a b Zembal, Jacey (April 30, 2023). "NC State has at least nine former players set to chase NFL dreams". Rivals.com.
- ^ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Drake Thomas College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ^ Champion, Aidan (June 7, 2023). "Raiders' Drake Thomas Was Another Under-the-Radar UDFA". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ "Raiders finalize initial 53-man roster for the 2023 season". Raiders.com. August 29, 2023.
- ^ Boyle, John (August 30, 2023). "Seahawks Claim Two Players On Waivers". Seahawks.com.
- ^ "Seahawks Place Seven On Physically Unable To Perform List Ahead Of 2024 Training Camp". Seahawks.com. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
- ^ "Seattle Seahawks Activate LB Drake Thomas From PUP List". SI.com. August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
- ^ "Head Coach Mike Macdonald Gives Final Updates Ahead Of Week 7 vs. Texans". www.seahawks.com. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
- ^ "Drake Thomas Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
- ^ Welter, Pat (October 30, 2022). "Thomas brothers journey a walk to remember at NC State". WRAL-TV. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
