Defensive lineman Solomon Thomas is entering his third season with the San Francisco 49ers and he, like the Niner Faithful, is hoping 2019 is a breakout year. Certain expectations were set for the young defensive player when the 49ers made him the No. 3 overall pick in 2017. Expectations, many would say, he has failed to reach.
The pressure of being such a high draft pick used to weigh on Thomas. Now, he sees his draft spot as a blessing.
"I was drafted third overall for a reason," Thomas told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area on the 49ers Insider Podcast, "because I'm a good player. It's time I just put all the expectations and pressure out of me, and just worry about me and what I know I can do.
"I know I'm a good player, and I know I'm here for a reason. I know my strengths. I know who I am on the field. I know who I am as a teammate in the locker room."
Thomas seems like a different person this offseason. Despite coming off another statically disappointing season, teammates like fullback Kyle Juszczyk have said Thomas has a renewed energy to him.
"I know what I can do on the field," Thomas said, "and that's what I'm excited about. I'm really confident in myself right now. I'm really confident in my abilities and what I can do, and my potential. I'm just ready to go out there and play as hard as I can, and kind of just show everyone, and show myself how good I can be."
Getting to this point was a difficult journey for Thomas. After dealing with all of the expectations of being the No. 3 overall pick in 2017, he had to deal with family tragedy last year when his sister, Ella, died by suicide that January.
While most would understand how such a loss might impact a player's on-field performance, Thomas isn't willing to use it as an excuse.
"I'm not making an excuse for how I played at all," Thomas explained. "That's on me. I didn't play anything close to how I am or show any kind of spark of who I am on the field. Every day I'll own up to that.
"I hate looking back on it, but it's true; I definitely had a lot of carryover from what I went through with my family in the offseason, losing my sister, just going through the grief process. I really didn't handle it well at first. I just kind of got stuck in a dark hole that I couldn't get out of for a while, and really didn't honor my emotions, or really even tend to them at all."
Thomas finally reached out for help last November and worked on his mental well-being. He feels more confident now about his NFL future and the impact he can make on the football field.
"[Around November is] kind of when I started playing better, when my mind started clearing up, wasn't as clouded, and was able to finally kind of play again," Thomas continued. "I feel like I finished the last six games pretty strong, and finally kind of showed a little bit of who I can be and what I'm going to be in the future."
Thomas is excited about his potential. He is also enthusiastic about the 49ers' potential going forward and feels the team is on the brink of something special.
"I'm excited for this team this year," Thomas said. "We have a lot of hungry guys, a lot of new guys, a lot of guys who have improved themselves year after year. They're kind of getting to that point where they're ready to explode and get off.
"I feel like this team, we've been kind of on that cusp of being a really good team, and we've had some downfalls with injuries and what not. But I feel like this year, we're going to be really special in a lot of ways."
You can listen to the entire interview with Thomas below.
