The San Francisco 49ers invested a first round pick in Stanford defensive tackle Solomon Thomas after months of mock drafts suggesting it would happen. It seemed too obvious, but it turned out mock drafts were spot on. The 49ers traded down one spot from the No. 2 pick and landed the top guy remaining on their board.
We've heard draft analysts discussing Thomas and every other prospect, but how about what scouts have to say? Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journel Sentinel runs a pre-draft column every year featuring all sorts of random comments from anonymous scouts. They love giving opinions without attaching their name, and McGinn does a great job compiling the quotations.
I thought that for each 49ers pick that showed up in McGinn's column, I'd pull out what the scouts had to say. Some of the comments are going to be truthful, while it's possible others are scouts looking to get a guy down to them, or push him up to get someone else down to them. Whatever the case, it gives us opinions from people who do this for a living, with slightly greater repercussions than your average draft prognosticator.
McGinn ranked out all the defensive ends, and had Solomon Thomas No. 2, behind only Myles Garrett. Here are what four scouts told McGinn about Thomas.
1. “Reminds me of John Randle,” said one scout. “Quick and active, strong and powerful.”
2. “He’s a little bigger and probably more explosive than Brandon Graham,” said a second scout. “He’s not Aaron Donald but he’s like that. He will win with his quickness and his movement.”
3. “Jonathan Allen is a steadier player but he’s more of a big-play guy,” said a third scout. “He’s an intense and relentless competitor. Makes plays when you have to make plays. He has great measurables, and he backs that up.”
4. “He’s a can’t-miss guy,” said a fourth scout. “People worked him out at linebacker. Love that dude. This kid knows how to play the game.”