The San Francisco 49ers welcomed Solomon Thomas to rookie minicamp this week, and by all accounts, he was in solid shape. There are sometimes concerns about a player getting busy in the weeks leading up to the draft, as well as immediately afterward, and not being in ideal shape.
Thomas not only kept in shape, but he was working with one of the great pass rushers of the past decade. The Texas resident spent time with former Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos edge rusher DeMarcus Ware this past week after the draft. Dallas News wrote about it, and Ware posted this to Twitter.
Getting a little work in with the guys for rookie mini camp & OTA's. pic.twitter.com/OdbKcdF1zf
— D-Ware (@DeMarcusWare) May 4, 2017
Thomas lived in Australia when he was younger, but moved to Texas in middle school. He played high school football there before enrolling at Stanford. Ware lives in Texas and spent time with Thomas and Dallas Cowboys defensive end Tyrone Crawford working on technique with them.
Once minicamp wraps, Thomas will not be able to join the 49ers practices until after Stanford final exams end in June. He’ll be able to view practice film and study the playbook on his team-issued iPad, and then will get a practice or two in at the end of mandatory minicamp. He indicated he would be down for joining DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead in Hawaii training with Michael Bennett, but I don’t think anything about that has been finalized.
In the meantime, it’s clear he’s serious about improving his craft. Working with someone like DeMarcus Ware makes that incredibly clear. That’s all you can ask for the moment while we wait for the fall training camp to arrive.