SANTA CLARA — A few days ago, John Lynch said the 49ers were going to walk away from the 2017 NFL Draft with a cornerstone piece. A face of the franchise. Somebody who other coaching staffs have to spend extra time game-planning for. Somebody who eventually is one of the best players on a team clinching NFC West division titles.
That’s going to be the expectation for Solomon Thomas. And nothing less.
I’ve been about as positive as you can be about the 49ers since they hired Lynch and Shanahan. I’m going to give Thomas the benefit of the doubt before he hits the field, mostly because I trust Kyle Shanahan’s judgment watching tape. But I’m skeptical San Francisco is walking away with this cornerstone piece they so desperately need. I’m skeptical that jamming a bunch of versatile pieces together on the defensive line is the first part of the puzzle that needed to be answered during a massive rebuild.
The vibe is repetitive inside the building at Levi’s Stadium after a third consecutive year of drafting a versatile defensive linemen in the first round. Question marks still are engulfing a defense who finished 32nd in the NFL a year ago. The 49ers have a gaping hole at single-high safety, at inside linebacker and at edge rusher, questions that will plague this defense no matter how good Thomas is right away. There were players at those positions just as talented as Thomas.
It’s expected the 6-foot-3, 273-pound No. 3 overall pick will play as a defensive end on first and second down, and kick inside as a pass rushing tackle on third. His comparison throughout this draft process has consistently been Seattle’s Michael Bennett, a player who has averaged 7.6 sacks the last four seasons with the Seahawks.
But there are those, myself and former NFL scout John Middlekauf included, that wonder how that 273-pound frame is going to withstand NFL offensive linemen. What is Thomas’ calling card going to be? Is he actually a three-down player, because if he’s not, taking him at No. 3 would be a brutal overreach. At a certain point, versatility becomes overrated. Thomas has to be spectacular at something — and we’re really not sure if it’ll be as a run defender or a pass rusher. That’s a little frightening. If Thomas is just a decent starting player four seasons from now, this pick will be a failure. He needs to be a star.
“That’s the great thing with Solomon is his versatility,” Lynch said on KNBR. “But one thing I challenged our defensive coaches, our defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, was I want you to articulate a clear vision for how we’re going to play Solomon Thomas — with all our players. Because if you can’t do that, as great as I might think he is, that’s not prudent. Robert and his staff, Jeff Zgonina our D-line coach, really coveted the player, as did we, as did the scouts, Reggie Cobb, former teammate of mine ironically is the west coast scout who had done a lot of work on Solomon Thomas. Adam Peters. In weeks of draft preparation, he’s a guy that kept standing out.
“The neatest thing about Solomon is that he’s already a productive player, but we think he has so much room to grow — both in stature and in play. I think he’s just scratching the surface. He’s already a disruptive force to be reckoned with.”
That articulated vision? Thomas has to be Bennett and not a lesser version. He has to be Justin Smith, Bryant Young for this defense. Lynch and Shanahan will repeat he won’t be judged on numbers, but how he produces on tape. This shouldn’t be slow brewed coffee, though. The expectation when you take somebody No. 3 overall is that they come into the NFL and start playing at a high level. Rookie struggles happen to everyone, but we’ll have a good feel by late October if Thomas is heading in the right direction.
Lynch and his front office should be commended for trading down one spot and netting picks No. 67, No. 111 and a third-rounder from 2018. The GM gave credit to chief strategy officer Paraag Marathe for the deal on a KNBR interview right after selecting Thomas. They should be commended for adding a high-character, smart, passionate player to the locker room.
But there’s no doubting the 49ers played this pick safe. Jonathan Allen is arguably the better prospect than Thomas but a shoulder concern dropped him to the Redskins at No. 17. The 49ers could’ve traded down further to grab a true LEO in Tenessee’s Derek Barnett or a true single-high safety in Malik Hooker. If the 49ers plan on running this defensive scheme for the next six-years plus, those are positions that need to be solved. And if those players walk into the league and make a big impact, Lynch will have some explaining to do a few seasons from now.
At the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Lynch was prompted to name the positions he felt most comfortable with. Offensive line came first, defensive line came second.
“Defensive line, I don’t think it’s as polished and honed, but there’s a lot of great potential there,” Lynch said. “And so, it’s our job to draw that out of them. We added another piece with Earl Mitchell there. And so I’m excited about that. I’m a firm believer, even though I played in the back-end and we’ve talked about quarterbacks, a lot of football, to me, is won and lost up front. And s, that makes me feel good that we feel pretty good about that. We need to get better, but I think we’re further along than a lot of teams are in this league at those two position groups.”
So theoretically, Thomas polishes off this defensive line. This unit should be a finished product now that the best defensive linemen in the draft not-named Myles Garrett is here… right?
Time will tell. If he’s dominant and changes this defense, I’ll be the first to admit my hesitation to Thomas was foolish. But group me in with those who are tentative to crown Thomas the difference-maker the 49ers really needed.