Solomon Thomas--Stanford

Originally posted by English:
SteveYoung: I must have missed something here. In what way is Blair not a high character guy?

My bad. I meant the 3 guys I propose we draft are high character guys while AA, Blair and Dial simply are not fits.

Ronald Blair is the epitome of a high-character guy. At App st, he was hurt during a game and sent to the locker room. He came back out in street clothes. However, guys started dropping like flies and App st. was quickly running out of players mid-way through the game. Ronald Blair, despite being hurt, went back into the locker room, put his pads back on and went out onto the field to help his team finish the game.

Not only is he a high-character guy, but he's an excellent fit in this defense and quite frankly, one of the better young players on this team.

Originally posted by SteveYoung:
I love Soloman Thomas.

He can play anywhere and will play with 100% effort and passion. When Lynch was talking up Earl Mitchell he talked about working hard, setting and example and running to the ball. Watch plays of Thomas chasing down running backs on screens or tosses. He goes 100 miles an hour all the time.

A few other things:

*Earl Mitchell is not a NT. Never has been. He is a penetrating DT who has never been stout vs the run. I don't think we are done at the NT position and we will look to add a true run stuffer for the middle of our D-line.

*I don't see a spot for Arik Armstead (6'7, 300), Quinton Dial (6'5, 320) or Ronald Blair (6'2, 285) on the D-line. Where will they play? Just because Armstead was a high draft pick does not mean we will play him where he doesn't fit. He is not a DE in a 4-3. He lacks the explosiveness to bend the edge. He is not a DT because he doesn't play with leverage and will get owned in the run game. I think he will get moved. I love Blair but again, where does he fit? We may keep him around at DE if Harold doesn't show anything.

*We need to add at least one more speed rusher (Jordan Willis) to fit the role Frank Clark plays on nickle downs when our LDE (Michael Bennett) slides in to DT to replace the NT on passing downs. Soloman Thomas is a perfect fit to be our Michael Bennett.

Draft:

1- Solomon Thomas, DE- Stanford 6'3, 273
The announcers in the North Carolina game said it best. "Soloman Thomas, Whats your position? Football" This guy is a monster. He singlehandedly takes over games. His work ethic, passion and leadership are second to none. Line him up at LEO, line him up at DT. Put him at OLB. It doesn't matter. He will make plays and fly to the ball. I don't care that we took two D linemen in consecutive years. Those were Baalke's picks. Thomas will be Lynch's first ever pick and if he is anything like Justin Smith he will be a dominant force and a team leader for a decade. I really like Marshon Lattimore but it starts in the trenches. He will play the role that Michael Bennett plays in Seattle.

2- Jordan Willis, DE- Kansas State 6'3, 255
Pure, explosive pass rusher. Might be the best speed rusher in the draft. Very similar to Cliff Avril in Seattle. We desperatley need a pass rush to make this D work. A nickel D line of Jordan Willis - Soloman Thomas - DeForest Buckner could be deadly.

3- Dalvin Tomlinson, NT- Alabama 6'3, 310
Wins with leverage, power and technique. Beast of a man who is also very smart and could have gone to Harvard. He is leader and a model citizen. I love this guy.

Seahawks D-Line:

LDE- Michael Bennett (6'3, 273) ----- Frank Clark (6'1, 270)
NT- Ahtyba Rubin (6'3, 330) ----- John Jenkins (6'4, 345)
DT- Jarran Reed (6'3, 310) ---- Tony McDaniel (6'7, 305)
RDE- Cliff Avril (6'3, 260) ----- Damontre Moore (6'4, 250)

Nickel D-Line

LDE- Frank Clark
DT- Michael Bennett
DT- Jarran Reed
RDE- Cliff Avril

Compared to ours:

LDE- Soloman Thomas (6'3, 273) -----Jordan Willis (6'3, 255)
NT- Dalvin Tomlinson (6'3, 310) ----- Mike Purcell (6'3, 305)
DT- DeForest Buckner (6'7, 300) ---- Earl Mitchell (6'2, 296)
RDE- Aaron Lynch (6'5, 249) ---- Eli Harold (6'3, 247) or Ronald Blair (6'2, 285)

Nickel D-Line:

LDE- Jordan Willis
DT- Soloman Thomas
DT- DeForest Buckner
RDE- Aaron Lynch

It just makes sense to re-work the D-lines. We don't have the personell to run the scheme Shanahan and Lynch want to run so we will look to the draft to find guys that fit. Thomas, Willis and Tomlinson are absolutly prefect for what we run and are high character guys while Armstead, Blair and Dial are not.

Why would Jordan Willis play LDE and not the LEO position. WIth his size, speed, and ability to rush the passer I would think that would be his natural spot.

LDE- Soloman Thomas (6'3, 273) -----Jordan Willis (6'3, 255)
NT- Dalvin Tomlinson (6'3, 310) ----- Mike Purcell (6'3, 305)
DT- DeForest Buckner (6'7, 300) ---- Earl Mitchell (6'2, 296)
RDE- Aaron Lynch (6'5, 249) ---- Eli Harold (6'3, 247) or Ronald Blair (6'2, 285)

WOLB- Malcom Smith 100+ tackles, 2+ sacks
MLB- Navarro Bowman 110+ tackles, 4+ sacks
SOLB- Ahmad Brooks 60+ tackles, 5+ sacks

Thomas is a beast. I think he offers 70+ tackle and 8 sack potential minimum.
Tomlinson is a monster. He will control at least 2 blockers freeing up DeForest for 1 on 1 blocking. He offers 50+ tackle and 2 sack potential
DeForest in this scheme will be an AllPro. I think he has 60+ tackle and 10+ sack potential
Lynch should also do well. 40+ tackle and 6+ sacks.
Willis as a pure speed rusher off the edge in the nickle will be scary. 30+ tackles and 10+ sacks IMO.

So we literally go from zero pass rush last year to 45+ sacks just from our front 7 IMO. I love the looks of this potential D.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Why would Jordan Willis play LDE and not the LEO position. WIth his size, speed, and ability to rush the passer I would think that would be his natural spot.

He would replace Thomas in passing downs at DE while Thomas slides inside. Much like Seattle does with Frank Clark and Michael Bennett

Originally posted by SteveYoung:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Why would Jordan Willis play LDE and not the LEO position. WIth his size, speed, and ability to rush the passer I would think that would be his natural spot.

He would replace Thomas in passing downs at DE while Thomas slides inside. Much like Seattle does with Frank Clark and Michael Bennett

I think he is better suited for the RDE. He would instantly be the Niners best pass rusher from the Edge and should be on the right side in my opinion going after the QBs blind side. I guess I dont have as high of a confidence level in Lynch as you do.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
I think he is better suited for the RDE. He would instantly be the Niners best pass rusher from the Edge and should be on the right side in my opinion going after the QBs blind side. I guess I dont have as high of a confidence level in Lynch as you do.

Maybe so.

I think if Lynch is healthy and focused he will be very good in this scheme. But there will be alot of moving parts with guys switching sides. Especially in the nickel.

I finally see a mock draft with Thomas going to us at 2

www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2017-nfl-mock-draft-solomon-thomas-goes-no-2-reuben-foster-falls-to-redskins


Edit: saw three other ones too that have us taking Solomon. Man I'd be juiced if this s**t happened.

Solomon Thomas does not remind me of Justin Smith. He reminds me of a lighter Bryant Young.

Originally posted by Hangman_52:
Solomon Thomas does not remind me of Justin Smith. He reminds me of a lighter Bryant Young.

Good comparison...interestingly enough Bryant Young was the same weight as Solomon coming out of Notre Dame.

Originally posted by GhostOfBaalke:

I finally see a mock draft with Thomas going to us at 2

www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2017-nfl-mock-draft-solomon-thomas-goes-no-2-reuben-foster-falls-to-redskins




Edit: saw three other ones too that have us taking Solomon. Man I'd be juiced if this s**t happened.

I'd be very happy with Thomas, shove them all in a competition and rotation, come contract time the loser out of Armstead and Lynch can walk, i.e I think Solomon could beat either one out of their spots

We need donatari poe!

Originally posted by 49erBigMac:

Originally posted by GhostOfBaalke:

I finally see a mock draft with Thomas going to us at 2

www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2017-nfl-mock-draft-solomon-thomas-goes-no-2-reuben-foster-falls-to-redskins




Edit: saw three other ones too that have us taking Solomon. Man I'd be juiced if this s**t happened.

I'd be very happy with Thomas, shove them all in a competition and rotation, come contract time the loser out of Armstead and Lynch can walk, i.e I think Solomon could beat either one out of their spots

Walk? We don't need second stringers any more?

Originally posted by davewaymer49:

We need donatari poe!

Poe was very average last year. He graded out poorly and was a big reason KC struggled vs the run last year. He will probably have to settle for a 1 year prove it deal.

Thomas is starting to settle in at the top of my list for #2 if/when the Browns take Garrett