Solomon Thomas, DT

Originally posted by philosoraptor:

Originally posted by Niner4ever:

Thomas is the biggest question going in to the offseason and will either stall the defense or elevate it. Thomas is essentially Armstead but with more drive.

The Cardinals can either draft Bosa or trade out and have somebody jump to #1 and draft him. So the question becomes does Thomas go to RDE or DT? If he is more productive at DT then go out and get a couple of ends. If he can play the RDE adequately then a lone pass rusher is needed.

Either way the team has to identify what Thomas' role will be and either be ready to draft a need #2 or trade down and pick up a couple more picks.

If our hope is that Solomon Thomas is going to elevate our defense we are screwed. He needs to be considered an after thought, and needs to earn his role. He has done nothing to be considered a key cog on this team. He is, as of right now, a rotational passing-down DT, and a run stuffing DE.

You have a point. Maybe the problem is drafting 3- 4 defensive linemen and plugging them in in a 4- 3 right now at the very least he is a little better than Armstead.

Originally posted by Ensatsu:

Originally posted by Niner4ever:

Thomas is the biggest question going in to the offseason and will either stall the defense or elevate it. Thomas is essentially Armstead but with more drive.

The Cardinals can either draft Bosa or trade out and have somebody jump to #1 and draft him. So the question becomes does Thomas go to RDE or DT? If he is more productive at DT then go out and get a couple of ends. If he can play the RDE adequately then a lone pass rusher is needed.

Either way the team has to identify what Thomas' role will be and either be ready to draft a need #2 or trade down and pick up a couple more picks.

I've identified his role already. He's a bench player, and an okay rotational piece at best. He should not affect our draft in anyway whatsoever. Yes that means I am completely open to drafting another DT.

Not all picks will turn out to be stars or immediate contributors but I think year 3 will tell a lot about him. It might be that Saleh just needs to leave him inside or outside. I rarely see Buckner outside.

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by lamontb:
Another game with 0 impact

LOL

Our expectations from a #3 overall pick is the problem, ST (or J. Lynch's former classmate at Stanford) is just doing what he does. He was not going to be an impact player in the NFL.

Wonder how he would look as a 3-4 DE on the Patriots Defense?

I think he'd do better playing the 3 in a 4-3. Armstead is the one that I think would be better served as a 3-4 DE. Stop the run and tie up blockers.

Armstead played in that system in college at Oregon, same with Buckner.

I think ST would be a better 3-4 player either at OLB or DE. He can always get better but so far he is not a good 4-3 D-lineman.

Originally posted by Eli_23:
Why is he invisible during games?

Because when he plays inside he "just needs time & help" and when he plays outside he is among the worst in the NFL.

buuuut...not a bust in this thread because he still cashes a paycheck.

This thread told me he was crushing dudes in December.

Please summarize his stats and accomplishments for December -- apparently his finest month as a pro.

Originally posted by Eli_23:
Why is he invisible during games?

Hes fighting the opponents invisible players for us.

Extend him asap.

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by lamontb:
Another game with 0 impact

LOL

Our expectations from a #3 overall pick is the problem, ST (or J. Lynch's former classmate at Stanford) is just doing what he does. He was not going to be an impact player in the NFL.

Wonder how he would look as a 3-4 DE on the Patriots Defense?

I think he'd do better playing the 3 in a 4-3. Armstead is the one that I think would be better served as a 3-4 DE. Stop the run and tie up blockers.

Armstead played in that system in college at Oregon, same with Buckner.

I think ST would be a better 3-4 player either at OLB or DE. He can always get better but so far he is not a good 4-3 D-lineman.

Buckner is just programmed to succeed, no question.
Other guys need the right situation/scheme nothing wrong with that. Management just needs to recognize it and put them in that situation.

Originally posted by Niner4ever:

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by lamontb:
Another game with 0 impact

LOL

Our expectations from a #3 overall pick is the problem, ST (or J. Lynch's former classmate at Stanford) is just doing what he does. He was not going to be an impact player in the NFL.

Wonder how he would look as a 3-4 DE on the Patriots Defense?

I think he'd do better playing the 3 in a 4-3. Armstead is the one that I think would be better served as a 3-4 DE. Stop the run and tie up blockers.

Armstead played in that system in college at Oregon, same with Buckner.

I think ST would be a better 3-4 player either at OLB or DE. He can always get better but so far he is not a good 4-3 D-lineman.

Buckner is just programmed to succeed, no question.
Other guys need the right situation/scheme nothing wrong with that. Management just needs to recognize it and put them in that situation.

Great post!!!

This is the type of guy you would expect to get at #3 overall

Originally posted by DRCHOWDER:

Originally posted by Eli_23:
Why is he invisible during games?

Hes fighting the opponents invisible players for us.

Extend him asap.

He won the Battle of the Invisibles with Pocic.

Also, he's taking NT heat off of Armstead.

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by Niner4ever:

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by lamontb:
Another game with 0 impact

LOL

Our expectations from a #3 overall pick is the problem, ST (or J. Lynch's former classmate at Stanford) is just doing what he does. He was not going to be an impact player in the NFL.

Wonder how he would look as a 3-4 DE on the Patriots Defense?

I think he'd do better playing the 3 in a 4-3. Armstead is the one that I think would be better served as a 3-4 DE. Stop the run and tie up blockers.

Armstead played in that system in college at Oregon, same with Buckner.

I think ST would be a better 3-4 player either at OLB or DE. He can always get better but so far he is not a good 4-3 D-lineman.

Buckner is just programmed to succeed, no question.
Other guys need the right situation/scheme nothing wrong with that. Management just needs to recognize it and put them in that situation.

Great post!!!

This is the type of guy you would expect to get at #3 overall

Thanks.
I don't know but this football thing is complicated lol. Top picks often don't work out and low picks become legends lol. Anyway it's not as easy as drafting high in the NBA where the top picks turn out to be the better players.
If I am going to have an issue the issue is that they should draft players that have played and fit in to the scheme from day 1.

Originally posted by Niner4ever:
If that's the case then I don't see a need for Quinnen Williams but rather a hard to come by edge rusher. Do you?

Q. Williams is really good. The only reason he was not a double digit sack guy is how long it took Bama to figure out he should not come off the field during passing downs.

The best part is he is not a one trick pony. He does not just finesse guys or bulldoze guys...he changes gear on the fly mid play to get push or penetration. He has look like a generational talent.

QWILL is making it so much more annoying that we beat the Rams in the last game of the year 2 years ago, and cost us Myles Garrett. Had we lost that game, we would have taken Garrett, and now we could NO BRAINER take QWILL to pair inside with Defo. Having an edge rusher in Garrett plus the inside pressure of Defo+QWILL, our D-line would be starting to get pretty scary.

Originally posted by Bobdawg78:
QWILL is making it so much more annoying that we beat the Rams in the last game of the year 2 years ago, and cost us Myles Garrett. Had we lost that game, we would have taken Garrett, and now we could NO BRAINER take QWILL to pair inside with Defo. Having an edge rusher in Garrett plus the inside pressure of Defo+QWILL, our D-line would be starting to get pretty scary.

Of course that assumes Garrett would not have had an impact on current draft position.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Bobdawg78:

QWILL is making it so much more annoying that we beat the Rams in the last game of the year 2 years ago, and cost us Myles Garrett. Had we lost that game, we would have taken Garrett, and now we could NO BRAINER take QWILL to pair inside with Defo. Having an edge rusher in Garrett plus the inside pressure of Defo+QWILL, our D-line would be starting to get pretty scary.

Of course that assumes Garrett would not have had an impact on current draft position.

That, and if we had Garrett, pass rush and DL wouldn't be as big of a need so we probably wouldn't be drafting it early this year when there are great options in round 2 and 3.

Originally posted by okdkid:
This thread told me he was crushing dudes in December.

Please summarize his stats and accomplishments for December -- apparently his finest month as a pro.

You can double down on your bashing of the kid it won't change anything.

Whoever said that he was dominating was obviously blowing things out of proportion but if you can't admit that he started playing much better when he was allowed to get more inside snaps then you either don't understand how to watch DL play or you just can't give the kid any credit.

We'll see what he does next year. Unless he's traded he's not going anywhere. Assuming he can't help us moving forward is dumb. He's still very talented and if we actually allow him to play inside more often than not he will make us better. Whether or not he will ever prove himself worthy of a top 3 pick is doubtful but it's also not what defines a player.

There are numerous early draft picks who end up being decent starters in the NFL and help their teams win even though they may not be sexy players who you really get excited by drafting so early.