The Solomon Thomas Thread

[NinerSickness]

Maiocco:
Solomon Thomas played a season-high 49 snaps, including 27 pass-rush downs, but managed only one pressure.

Meanwhile, Mitch Trubisky had one of the best games of any QB of all time in his 29th start of his career including college, and he's only getting better.

[NinerSickness]

Is it getting close to time to use the B word?

Salvage his career by using him solely as a DT, splitting time with a big NT?

Am I overreacting?

[Ray_Dogg]

Is it getting close to time to use the B word?

Salvage his career by using him solely as a DT, splitting time with a big NT?

Am I overreacting?

I gave up on him last season. So by no means imo. They need to trade him for a sack of potatoes.

[I_am_1z]

Is it getting close to time to use the B word?

Salvage his career by using him solely as a DT, splitting time with a big NT?

Am I overreacting?

I gave up on him last season. So by no means imo. They need to trade him for a sack of potatoes.

When I saw him dressed up for the Star Wars convention, I lost all hope

[ChrisPozz]

Am I overreacting?

I gave up on him last season. So by no means imo. They need to trade him for a sack of potatoes.

When I saw him dressed up for the Star Wars convention, I lost all hope

Speaking of, former 9-year Packer Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, owner of 74.5 career sacks, used to wear a freaking cape around Green Bay.

[NinerSickness]

Time to fire the amateur John Lynch.

[Pattersonca65]

Thomas can still be a good player for the 49ers but there is a good possibility he will never become the impact player one would expect from the 3rd pick in the draft. They need to play him inside and forget about trying to make him an outside pass rusher.

[CalamityX12]

That realization that Thomas may be Kentwan Balmer 2.0....

hurts

[NinerSickness]

That realization that Thomas may be Kentwan Balmer 2.0....

hurts

Watch on YouTube

[NinerSickness]

So what do the Niners do with this guy next year? Just stick him permanently at DT where he might not completely suck? Rotate in with a bigger NT?

[Ray_Dogg]

So what do the Niners do with this guy next year? Just stick him permanently at DT where he might not completely suck? Rotate in with a bigger NT?

Yep and guess what. He will still completely suck.

[NinerSickness]

So what do the Niners do with this guy next year? Just stick him permanently at DT where he might not completely suck? Rotate in with a bigger NT?

Yep and guess what. He will still completely suck.

You're probably right, but at least he hasn't proved that he's a s**t defensive tackle yet. He sucks at end; that's for sure.

[Ray_Dogg]

So what do the Niners do with this guy next year? Just stick him permanently at DT where he might not completely suck? Rotate in with a bigger NT?

Yep and guess what. He will still completely suck.

You're probably right, but at least he hasn't proved that he's a s**t defensive tackle yet. He sucks at end; that's for sure.

He showed me he’s a **** DT when he moved there last season. Remember how hyped people were when he caused holding calls by a third string guard against Seattle? That was all they had to talk about when he played DT. Armstead is better at DT. I literally see no use for Thomas at all. Any time he’s on the field someone better on the roster isn’t. This is bad.

[CrimsonCrew]

It depends what happens in FA and the draft, but assuming we don't add a lot of DL talent outside the edge position, I think he gets his shot as an inside pass rusher. I'm not holding my breath on him, particularly as his technique leaves a lot to be desired, but we may as well give him another shot in his most natural position. As disappointing as he's been, the coaching staff bears much of the blame for initially trying to play him at Leo, and then putting him at big end last year instead of in the middle.

He's still an elite athlete who is smart and, so far as I know, a very hard worker. His sister's suicide probably adversely impacted his mental game this season. It's too early to give up, but he's unlikely to ever live up to the draft pick. Though he should never have been the #3 pick in the first place. We should have traded back (I know we tried and there wasn't much in the way of offers, but we should have taken anything). Personally, I wanted Hooker, Lattimore, or Barnett. Any of the three would have been better than Thomas, but he can still turn into a solid player if we use him the right way.

[Yoshi]

That realization that Thomas may be Kentwan Balmer 2.0....

hurts

At least Balmer wasn't that high of a pick.

I was never a fan of S.T., not only because he's from StanfUrd, but for a whole slew of reasons. Unfortunately, the brass tinkered with him thinking he could provide an edge rush. However, anybody who followed this guy's career in college knows that he is a one trick pony. So in some ways our coaching staff kind of stunted his development. I wasn't around here to complain about this pick, but damn was I pissed when I watched the draft that year.

If the Niners land Bosa, at least they can salvage some of the bad mojo from prior drafts and have some semblance of a defensive line with DeFo and Dee Ford.

[Ray_Dogg]

That realization that Thomas may be Kentwan Balmer 2.0....

hurts

At least Balmer wasn't that high of a pick.

I was never a fan of S.T., not only because he's from StanfUrd, but for a whole slew of reasons. Unfortunately, the brass tinkered with him thinking he could provide an edge rush. However, anybody who followed this guy's career in college knows that he is a one trick pony. So in some ways our coaching staff kind of stunted his development. I wasn't around here to complain about this pick, but damn was I pissed when I watched the draft that year.

If the Niners land Bosa, at least they can salvage some of the bad mojo from prior drafts and have some semblance of a defensive line with DeFo and Dee Ford.

A blast from the past! Wassup Yoshi?

I absolutely hated the Solly pick. I still don’t see him being a productive player for us. I crack up at all the fanboys that think he’s gonna be a different player moving to DT. Did they not watch him play DT last season? The move already happened. He sucked out loud at that spot and people had to brag about him getting holding calls in the Seahawks backup and third string G. Whoopty doo.

[CrimsonCrew]

As I've said before, in this thread and elsewhere, the odds are that Thomas won't pan out anywhere near his draft status. There's a strong argument that Ronald Blair is as good or better than he is. But there's no sense in giving up on him at this point unless he's flat-out beaten out by other guys on the roster. And if we don't draft Q. Williams, I think it's somewhat unlikely we address the DT spot.

As for Thomas, I know measurables aren't everything, but given the buzz about Ed Oliver recently, I thought it was worth comparing the two. I'm going to list their respective numbers, Oliver in parentheses.

HT: 6'3" (6'2")
WT: 277 (281)
Arm: 33" (31 3/4")
Hand: 9 3/8" (9 1/4")
Bench: 30 (32)
40: 4.69 (4.73)
VJ: 35" (36")
BJ: 126" (120")
SS: 4.28 (4.13)
3C: 6.95 (7.15)

Not identical, but strikingly similar. If Thomas has a chance to focus on his interior pass rush, I think he's still got plenty of upside. If he'll reach it....well, we'll see.

[Pattersonca65]

Thomas will most probably never lived up to his draft status but he can still become a good inside player. PFF graded him out okay on his inside play. Playing Thomas as an edge rusher was a waste of time just like playing Armstead at that position was. The 49ers were so desperate for an effective leo they might have tried Dumbo the Elephant there.


https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/10/26/18025500/solomon-thomas-49ers-fix-better-interior-edge-3t

[CrimsonCrew]

If we don't draft Q. Williams, I don't think we'll add an interior DL in this draft unless that value is ridiculous (which is possible in a pretty strong DL draft). We've got a glut of players at the interior spots right now. Obviously Buckner is an ascendant player. Day and Jones should be a decent duo on early downs, though that's certainly not guaranteed. And we've got a slew of those 'tweener types who can kick inside on passing downs. Interior pass rusher might be the best/most natural position for all of Thomas, Armstead, Blair, and Street. And possibly Taylor, too.

I'm particularly interested to see Street on the field. He was 6'2", 280 at the combine, and word is that he's bulked up since then. He may be looking at a semi-permanent move inside at this point.

[Pattersonca65]

Lynch did just say you can never have enough defensive lineman. But if they do draft Q Williams with the #2, he better turn out to be an elite player because right now this team does not need another average to good interior dlineman