Solomon Thomas, DT

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by mayo49:
Solly next to DeFo is going to be monstrous.

Solly was next to Defo last season, didn't do much. With Ford and Bosa on the edges, that's what will make the line monstrous

Yes he was...as an edge rusher. As you said, with Ford and Bosa on the edges, we will now see.

Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:

The Seahawks will try to slow down Ford and Bosa off the edges, and Buckner to some extent and will ignore Solly. Solly will get to Wilson early and often this year is my prediction!

After their last game they may want to pay attention to Thomas too...he was huge in that game.

Honestly if Buckner played against Pocic, he would of had 4 sacks that game.

Didn't we have this song and dance after that game lol? He didn't just play well against him in that game.

We did and I stand by my statement.

I said then he had a decent game while everyone wanted to say it was a great game. I feel people were waiting for just anything positive for Thomas that when that game happened it got overhyped just a tad.

Ethan Pocic is objectively the worst starting guard in the NFL IMO(I think he was benched and came in with an injury). So I when I mentioned how bad Pocic was people got mad at me saying I'm just hating on Thomas but it's true. Pocic is trash and most (not all) of his good plays happened against him. I know he had decent pressures against all three guards.

I personally thought he played his best game against the Rams. It helped that he got more time inside as the season went on. Hopefully more of that to come.

Originally posted by Waterbear:

We did and I stand by my statement.

I said then he had a decent game while everyone wanted to say it was a great game. I feel people were waiting for just anything positive for Thomas that when that game happened it got overhyped just a tad.

Ethan Pocic is objectively the worst starting guard in the NFL IMO(I think he was benched and came in with an injury). So I when I mentioned how bad Pocic was people got mad at me saying I'm just hating on Thomas but it's true. Pocic is trash and most (not all) of his good plays happened against him. I know he had decent pressures against all three guards.

I personally thought he played his best game against the Rams. It helped that he got more time inside as the season went on. Hopefully more of that to come.

Hopefully now we'll see the d-line dominate every bad o-lineman they face. There should be enough talent that any weaknesses can be exploited in devastating fashion.

Originally posted by Waterbear:

I personally thought he played his best game against the Rams. It helped that he got more time inside as the season went on. Hopefully more of that to come.

I think JD's breakdown of him was totally spot on. Even in the limited and predictable snaps he was finally given inside, in many cases he was asked to be a spy.

What little film we had of him inside on non-predictable snaps (run or pass?), he was much much more effective and disruptive.

Having him inside now with wide 9 on ANY down could lend itself to a much more effective Thomas.

How much? We'll see but it starts with moving him inside permanently and rotating him on all 3 downs and not just obvious 3rd down passing plays (or asking him to spy). Just let him whip G's off the snap.

I can't help but think, now having both Dee Ford and Bosa, two very good pass rushers, seeing how those two operate, can only help Thomas improve his pass rushing skills in the long term.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

I personally thought he played his best game against the Rams. It helped that he got more time inside as the season went on. Hopefully more of that to come.

I think JD's breakdown of him was totally spot on. Even in the limited and predictable snaps he was finally given inside, in many cases he was asked to be a spy.

What little film we had of him inside on non-predictable snaps (run or pass?), he was much much more effective and disruptive.

Having him inside now with wide 9 on ANY down could lend itself to a much more effective Thomas.

How much? We'll see but it starts with moving him inside permanently and rotating him on all 3 downs and not just obvious 3rd down passing plays (or asking him to spy). Just let him whip G's off the snap.

I thought JD's videos we're amazing in how they highlighted Thomas' skillset but did not necessarily show how Thomas did overall game by game. My point was after that game, people had a greater impression of his impact than I did. I believe someone said he had a great game, which then makes me wonder what would you call Buckners game versus Minnesota or Kittles game versus Denver if Thomas' game was "great".

I'm excited to see Thomas inside for most of the season this year. I think we have enough outside players that even rushing downs he should stay inside.

It takes an entire offseason to cleanse this thread of the rightful criticism this dude got for his play. I was critical of Solomon Thomas' play, and I remain critical. As of today, I still believe him to be a bust (relative to the draft selection). But, of course, I want him to prove me wrong. I hope he, Armstead, and everybody else gives us the (good) problem of having to decipher which of our DL need to stay for the longterm.

If he shines this year I truly hope it's because of his own dramatic improvement -- and not because he has gifted incredible help along the DL. The later simply is not sustainable when injuries begin to take their toll. The 3rd pick in the draft needs to excel regardless of who plays around him. Those are franchise cornerstone picks, not the middle of the 3rd round. I hope he does well. I hope he proves all of his critics wrong, including me. But my expectations for what he needs to bring to this franchise, given his draft slot, will not change.

Originally posted by Waterbear:

I thought JD's videos we're amazing in how they highlighted Thomas' skillset but did not necessarily show how Thomas did overall game by game. My point was after that game, people had a greater impression of his impact than I did. I believe someone said he had a great game, which then makes me wonder what would you call Buckners game versus Minnesota or Kittles game versus Denver if Thomas' game was "great".

I'm excited to see Thomas inside for most of the season this year. I think we have enough outside players that even rushing downs he should stay inside.

Yeah, TBF, it was a very small sample size of times he was inside on non-predictable sets because Saleh saw him as a Big LEO and when he was moved inside, it was in predictable sets and with odd assignments at times.

Basically, if you want to destroy the development of a player, follow that blueprint.

The bottom line is we've never seen Thomas at a consistent ideal position and allowed to grow and develop there. Everyone knows where that is. How it should be. And until it happens, it's impossible to say he had a great or terrible game.

dude is a bust

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Solly next to DeFo is going to be monstrous.

Solly was next to Defo last season, didn't do much. With Ford and Bosa on the edges, that's what will make the line monstrous

Yes he was...as an edge rusher. As you said, with Ford and Bosa on the edges, we will now see.

He played inside next to him too and I wasn't as impressed as some here. I do think that the tragedy played a big part in his performance though. This season is make or break

Originally posted by Waterbear:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

I personally thought he played his best game against the Rams. It helped that he got more time inside as the season went on. Hopefully more of that to come.

I think JD's breakdown of him was totally spot on. Even in the limited and predictable snaps he was finally given inside, in many cases he was asked to be a spy.

What little film we had of him inside on non-predictable snaps (run or pass?), he was much much more effective and disruptive.

Having him inside now with wide 9 on ANY down could lend itself to a much more effective Thomas.

How much? We'll see but it starts with moving him inside permanently and rotating him on all 3 downs and not just obvious 3rd down passing plays (or asking him to spy). Just let him whip G's off the snap.

I thought JD's videos we're amazing in how they highlighted Thomas' skillset but did not necessarily show how Thomas did overall game by game. My point was after that game, people had a greater impression of his impact than I did. I believe someone said he had a great game, which then makes me wonder what would you call Buckners game versus Minnesota or Kittles game versus Denver if Thomas' game was "great".

I'm excited to see Thomas inside for most of the season this year. I think we have enough outside players that even rushing downs he should stay inside.

He did have a great game though...

It's a small sample size and you can argue who he played against but it doesn't change the fact that he did have a great game. His play was a big reason for why we won that day.

Doesn't mean it was the best game by a DLman ever but it also doesn't mean the guy did nothing to get excited about.

Hopefully he has even better games than that moving forward.

It sucks that we are debating if our #3 overall pick has had a "great" game. Really telling of his productivity to date.

Originally posted by genus49:

He did have a great game though...

It's a small sample size and you can argue who he played against but it doesn't change the fact that he did have a great game. His play was a big reason for why we won that day.

Doesn't mean it was the best game by a DLman ever but it also doesn't mean the guy did nothing to get excited about.

Hopefully he has even better games than that moving forward.

Like I said, if you want to use the word great for that game, what would you call Justin Smiths game vs the Saints?

If all you can say was that it wasn't the best game by a dlineman ever?? Then yeah I think we're clearly exaggerating his play by a lot.

Originally posted by okdkid:

It takes an entire offseason to cleanse this thread of the rightful criticism this dude got for his play. I was critical of Solomon Thomas' play, and I remain critical. As of today, I still believe him to be a bust (relative to the draft selection). But, of course, I want him to prove me wrong. I hope he, Armstead, and everybody else gives us the (good) problem of having to decipher which of our DL need to stay for the longterm.

If he shines this year I truly hope it's because of his own dramatic improvement -- and not because he has gifted incredible help along the DL. The later simply is not sustainable when injuries begin to take their toll. The 3rd pick in the draft needs to excel regardless of who plays around him. Those are franchise cornerstone picks, not the middle of the 3rd round. I hope he does well. I hope he proves all of his critics wrong, including me. But my expectations for what he needs to bring to this franchise, given his draft slot, will not change.

Well said

"I just had nothing there," Thomas told Dunne. "I was like, 'I really don't care about this. I really don't care about life anymore.'

Thomas admitted to Dunne that his thought process might have been heading down the same path as Ella's. Days are still difficult, but he is better prepared now to deal with the complex emotions left from the loss.

Jesus christ. I hate to say this because it sounds so selfish on my part, but Solomon's sister's suicide may have ruined his career before it ever began. We may never see the Solomon Thomas we thought we were getting.