Seattle Seahawks Marcus Burley better than Walter Thurmond?

The Seattle Seahawks have a knack for finding star cornerbacks, and last year’s breakout duo was Byron Maxwell and Jeremy Lane, who both emerged when Brandon Browner and Walter Thurmond were injured and suspended. Both Browner and Thurmond signed elsewhere in the offseason, and Maxwell and Lane actually looked like upgrades. In fact, Maxwell was playing at a Richard Sherman-level during the Seahawks Super Bowl run, and he’s clearly superior to Browner, who will return from suspension soon to play for the New England Patriots after snagging a large contract.

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I thought rookie Tharold Simon would emerge as the Seahawks next out-of-nowhere star CB, but he needed surgery early in the month and hasn’t played yet. And with Lane on the short-term injured reserve, it’s given a chance for former undrafted free agent Marcus Burley to shine for the Seahawks.

I don’t know how the ‘Hawks got the idea to trade for Burley from the Indianapolis Colts, but John Schneider and Pete Carroll have another absolute gem on their hands after paying just a sixth-round pick for Burley (Ryan Grigson seriously needs to stop trading, because he badly lost the Jerry Hughes-Kelvin Sheppard swap with the Buffalo Bills last year).

An AFC scout told FOX Sports’s Ross Jones that Burley is an even better player than Walter Thurmond, who is currently out of the season with a torn pectoral (it was initially thought to be strained) after signing just a one-year, $5 million deal with the New York Giants in the offseason. Thurmond was a great corner for the Seahawks, but it isn’t a stretch to say that the fast, talented, smart, and physical Burley is better. He and fellow newcomer Josh Thomas have played well, an the crazy thing is that the Seahawks are even deeper at cornerback than before.