Quick Facts
Biography
Solomon Christopher Thomas (born August 26, 1995) is an American football defensive end 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.
Early years
Thomas was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 20, 1995. Thomas and his family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was two years old, where he lived for five years. 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. He committed to Stanford University to play college football.
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. In recognition of his successful 2015 season, he was named as a 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. 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | For Loss | Sacks | Int | FF |
| 2015 | Stanford | 14 | 39 | 10.5 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Stanford | 13 | 62 | 15.0 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 |
| College Totals | 27 | 101 | 25.5 | 11.5 | 0 | 1 | |
Professional career
Coming out of Stanford, Thomas was projected to be a first round pick by the majority of analysts and scouts. Thomas was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but only chose to participate in the bench, 40-yard dash, vertical, and broad jump. 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. He attended Stanford's Pro Day and only performed positional drills.
| Ht | Wt | Arm length | Hand size | 40‑yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20‑ss | 3‑cone | Vert jump | Broad | BP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 5⁄8 in (1.90 m) | 273 lb (124 kg) | 33 in (0.84 m) | 9 7⁄8 in (0.25 m) | 4.69 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 | ||||||||||||
Thomas was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round with the third overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Thomas became the third consecutive defensive end drafted in the first round by the San Francisco 49ers, joining Arik Armstead (2015) and DeForest Buckner (2016).