Solomon Thomas, DT

The Thomas pick was a bit "meh" even at the time. Don't get it too twisted. The 49ers had Buckner and Armstead. And tons of more pressing needs. They couldn't have used Marshon Lattimore or Jamal Adams?

Best thing for him is to go to a 3-4 team

Originally posted by captveg:
What this tells me is that they were honest when they said they'd listen to Kocurek's evaluations of all their DL personnel. I suspect he just doesn't think Thomas is ever gonna turn the corner, and when you are almost certainly guaranteed to improve the DL with either Bosa or Williams it's unlikely Thomas will get on the field much, so better to get something for him in return than the nothing you will get in 2-3 years.

Yes, I think the driving force would be Kocurek's evaluation.

Judging from how things went down the last couple years, I suspect there were conflicting opinions in SF HQ on Thomas.
Scouts thought he could be this, Saleh thought he could be that, Zgonina thought he couldn't do that, player personnel thought he could do this, etc..
I don't think any of them were necessarily wrong, but in the end, everyone saw him in practice and games for two years and he didn't produce. Kocurek was probably brought in to be the judge.

Another thing people are forgetting about Thomas is the state of the team when he was drafted. People forget the perception of Arik Armstead in April 2017. I'd say his approval rating was even lower than Thomas's, due to injuries AND lack of production. Buckner was being looked at as a DE in our new scheme (the position AA has now). So, we did need a 3T. Thomas fit the profile. There were other guys who may have been in play, Lattimore, Hooker, Barnett, and even Trubisky, but only Mitchell would've been worth the number 2 (eventually 3) pick at the time. Based on the conditions at the time, i'm not hearing the "we drafted 3 straight DTs" talk. There was a large minority of people who had concerns about Thomas holding up inside, but to this day, we can't say if they were proven right or wrong. He doesn't even play enough there for anyone to really judge. The LEO thing was a bad idea, but because of where they were with edge guys, Thomas got stuck there after his injury rookie year. We kept hearing all this stuff about the Michael Bennett role, but that never really happened. It didn't help that he wasn't a natural edge rusher.

The situation has almost been as badly managed as Tank Carradine's was coming out of the gate, though I would rate Thomas higher. No matter how you slice it, at his worse coming out in 2017, he had first round talent. You can think he was drafted too high, but I don't think there was a mock anywhere that had him going outside of the top-15 or so. Unfortunately for Thomas, the ST is a bust crowd won't stop until he produces something. This year with Ford and possibly Bosa, the edge is solidified. Buckner will get A LOT of attention. There will be no better situation for Thomas so succeed in than right here, even if it's only 20 or so snaps inside every game.

Originally posted by theninermind:
The Thomas pick was a bit "meh" even at the time. Don't get it too twisted. The 49ers had Buckner and Armstead. And tons of more pressing needs. They couldn't have used Marshon Lattimore or Jamal Adams?

Are you really naming AA as a player to be counted on as of April 2017? Just made a post about what was going on at the time. We have to look at the team as it was at the time, not as it is now. Not that we couldn't have used the guys you named.

Per Albert Breer just now

Originally posted by VDSF:

Originally posted by Geeked:
I say the most the 49ers get for Thomas is a late 2nd and possibly a mid level player in a contract year.

AJ Green

I like the way you think.

Solomon might be different this year, maybe not. Niners are supposedly going to be playing different this year in the style due to the DL coach. New coach might be better than last year's, hope so. However, if they still play him out of position. It is stupid. Solomon's head may also may not have been in the game due to family problems, yours would be too if you were close like he was to his sister.

As for picking him, people keep forgetting that you can't trade back if no one is biting. Valuation wise no one was worth the 3rd pick at the time, only in hindsight can you make an argument. Would have been nice if the niners had been able to trade back a little more.

I think this may indicate an increased chance that QW might be the pick. May increase the chance of also us jumping back into the first round.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Per Albert Breer just now

That makes more sense imo. I'd rather give ST another year inside to see what he can do.

Originally posted by OsBoogie:

Just heard 49ers are shopping Solomon Thomas, the third pick in the 2017 draft.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 25, 2019

I hope they trade him...we're absolutely wasting him on this roster and using him poorly plus it adds another notch on the complete idiocy of our Front Office....trading away, giving up on a top 3 pick after two seasons....

What a s**t show

Originally posted by illinois9er:
That makes more sense imo. I'd rather give ST another year inside to see what he can do.

Makes sense that Armstead could be shopped.
If someone somehow offered a 3rd for either, Lynch should fax the trade papers before the phone call's even done.

Another thought: Harold was upset when Brown got traded. Will Buckner be upset when his lesser twin is traded? Or will Garnett be upset when his Stanford buddy's traded?

Originally posted by jcs:
I hope they trade him...we're absolutely wasting him on this roster and using him poorly plus it adds another notch on the complete idiocy of our Front Office....trading away, giving up on a top 3 pick after two seasons....

Nothing to see here.

All teams make bad picks!

We are smart for cutting ties!

He was the best choice at the time!

Hindsight is 20/20!

WHO WOULD YOU HAVE PICKED! ?!

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by jcs:

I hope they trade him...we're absolutely wasting him on this roster and using him poorly plus it adds another notch on the complete idiocy of our Front Office....trading away, giving up on a top 3 pick after two seasons....

Nothing to see here.

All teams make bad picks!

We are smart for cutting ties!

He was the best choice at the time!

Hindsight is 20/20!

WHO WOULD YOU HAVE PICKED! ?!

Jamal Adams, and at that point they needed a QB, Hoyer was the starter, Mahomes and Watson ?

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by jcs:
I hope they trade him...we're absolutely wasting him on this roster and using him poorly plus it adds another notch on the complete idiocy of our Front Office....trading away, giving up on a top 3 pick after two seasons....

Nothing to see here.

All teams make bad picks!

We are smart for cutting ties!

He was the best choice at the time!

Hindsight is 20/20!

WHO WOULD YOU HAVE PICKED! ?!

I was on the Solly band wagon...just didn't think they were going to use him almost exclusively as a LEO year one and only sprinkle inside snaps year two. Who'd of thunk a NT in college would struggle playing LEO DE??

Saleh is a freaking idiot.