Solomon Thomas wasn’t a horrible first round pick for the San Francisco 49ers, but he showed there was definitely some work to be done, most notably on his pass rushing skills. For someone taken as high as he was, it’s one skill you’d hope was just a bit better.
The 49ers are trying to figure out how to do this by playing him at other spots on the line, including a look at a package putting him inside and DeForest Buckner on the outside. Thomas himself knew he needed work and went to visit pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan during the offseason. Jordan has also worked with notable pass rushers like Tampa Bay Buccaneers tackle Gerald McCoy. The workouts were common knowledge since Jordan tweeted out some video of Thomas working out with him.
So what exactly happened in the visit? Well over at 4th and Nine, Dylan DeSimone had an interview with Jordan going over what he saw in Solomon Thomas and how coachable Thomas is. What really got interesting is what he says about Thomas finishing drills, which I’ve included below:
“He’s natural. What I liked about [Thomas], and him and Gerald both, after every rush they finished everything.
”They finished like they was going to the quarterback. They didn’t just finish after they finished their move on me, they finished on the quarterback, running the hoop or just running downhill. Everything was natural for him.”
Of course, Simone asked how many players finish like that and Jacobs responded with:
“To be honest with you, the great ones. The best ones are the ones who finish. The guys that just need to learn, and add that into their tools, they don’t finish it. But him, McCoy, Snacks, Ed Oliver, those guys finish every rep.”
It’s a pretty interesting interview in looking at what Thomas did in the offseason and the workout/program he did with Jordan along with drills and other adjustments. These kind of things are always fascinating with quarterbacks when they go visit “gurus”, and pass rushers can be just as enlightening. I’ve embedded the interview above but if you can’t see it, you can go here to listen.