Solomon Thomas

Solomon Christopher Thomas (born August 26, 1995) is an American football defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford University, and was drafted by the 49ers with the third overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Solomon Thomas
Thomas with 49ers in 2017
No. 94 – San Francisco 49ers
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1995-08-26) August 26, 1995
Chicago, Illinois
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
High school:Coppell (Coppell, Texas)
College:Stanford
NFL Draft:2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Honorable mention All-Pac-12 (2015)
  • Third-team All-American (2016)
  • Morris Trophy (2016)
  • First team All-Pac-12 (2016)
  • USA Today High School All-American (2013)
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Total tackles:93
Sacks:6.0
Forced fumbles:0
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Thomas was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 26, 1995. Thomas and his family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was two years old, where he lived for five years.[1] He attended Coppell High School in Coppell, Texas. He had 78 tackles and 12.5 sacks as a senior and 89 tackles with 8.5 sacks as a junior. He was rated as a four-star recruit and was ranked among the top players in his class.[2] He committed to Stanford University to play college football.[3]

College career

After redshirting his first year at Stanford in 2014, Thomas played in all 14 games in 2015, starting six, and had 39 total tackles, 10.5 tackles-for-loss, and 3.5 sacks.[4][5] In recognition of his successful 2015 season, he was named as an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection. In 2016, Thomas played and started all 13 games and had 62 total tackles with 15.0 TFL and 8.0 sacks. Thomas was named first team All-Pac-12 and won the Morris Trophy.[6][7] Following the 2016 season, Thomas declared his intentions to enter the 2017 NFL Draft. He was selected 3rd overall in the draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

College statistics
Defense
YearTeamGPTacklesFor LossSacksIntFF
2015Stanford143910.53.500
2016Stanford136215.08.001
College Totals2710125.511.501

Professional career

Coming out of Stanford, Thomas was projected to be a first round pick by the majority of analysts and scouts.[8] He was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but only chose to participate in the bench, 40-yard dash, vertical, and broad jump. On March 23, 2017, Thomas attended Stanford's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He was ranked the second best defensive end (behind Myles Garrett) by NFLDraftScout.com, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the fourth best defensive end in the 2017 NFL Draft.[9][10][11]

External video
Thomas' NFL Combine workout
Solomon Thomas' 40-yard dash
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2 5⁄8 in
(1.90 m)		 273 lb
(124 kg)		 33 in
(0.84 m)		 9 3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		 4.69 s 1.66 s 4.28 s 6.95 s 35 in
(0.89 m)		 10 ft 6 in
(3.20 m)		 30 reps
All values from NFL Combine[8]

Thomas was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round with the third overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.[12][13] He became the third consecutive defensive end drafted in the first round by the 49ers, joining Arik Armstead (2015) and DeForest Buckner (2016). The man who drafted Thomas, newly appointed 49ers general manager John Lynch, had, by chance, studied alongside Thomas as a mature student while working as a broadcaster for FOX Sports, and counselled Thomas to leave Stanford without knowing he would be in a position to draft him as a member of the 49ers front office the following season.[14]

External video
49ers select Solomon Thomas third overall
49ers call to draft Solomon Thomas

On July 28, 2017, the San Francisco 49ers signed Thomas to a fully guaranteed four-year, $28.14 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $18.61 million.[15] He played in 14 games as a rookie with 12 starts, recording 41 tackles and three sacks.

On May 1, 2020, the 49ers declined the fifth-year option on Thomas' contract, making him a free agent in 2021.

References
  1. "2017 NFL Draft: San Francisco 49ers select Australian-raised giant Solomon Thomas as third overall pick". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. April 28, 2017. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Recruit uses live tree, nerd glasses to tell us he's going to Stanford". Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. "Solomon Thomas leading Stanford defensive line through transition". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  5. "Instead of Christian McCaffrey, is Stanford's best player DE Solomon Thomas?". Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  6. "McCaffrey, Thomas named first team all-Pac-12 football". Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  7. "Stanford's Thomas named Pac-12's Morris Trophy winner". Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  8. "Combine Player Profiles – Solomon Thomas". National Football League. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  9. Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking the 2017's draft top 100 players". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  10. "Top 32 Prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft". profootballfocus.com. November 30, 2016. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  11. Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL Draft Rankings: Top by Position". si.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  12. Wesseling, Chris (April 27, 2017). "Niners select Solomon Thomas with third pick". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  13. Lyles, Harry (April 28, 2017). "Solomon Thomas can be next Michael Bennett for the 49ers". SB Nation. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  14. "2017 NFL Draft: John Lynch and Solomon Thomas took a Stanford class together". Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  15. "Spotrac.com: Solomon Thomas contract". Spotrac.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
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