The San Francisco 49ers are getting ready to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in just a few hours in their third preseason game. Something we’re still talking about after their second preseason game is defensive tackle Solomon Thomas. Thomas may have a play or two he wants back, but player we saw on the field was quite different than the defensive tackle some have labeled a bust over the last two years.
Well, part of this is him being a year removed from his sister’s suicide. The other part? This:
Solomon Thomas pass rush grade vs. Broncos:
— Jeff Deeney (@PFF_Jeff) August 20, 2019
Lined up inside: 74.4 (two QB pressures)
Lined up outside: 60.3 (no QB pressures)#49ers
Once again. When you play Thomas inside he’s much more productive than playing outside. That tweet above should tell you all you need to know. Why the coaching staff played him on the edge so much in 2018 when he turned in those results is still beyond me.
We don’t know how Thomas’ 2019 will play out. He may not be able to hang with the NFL once the regular season gets going. The one thing to take from this is the numbers are there to indicate if the 49ers could just leave him at his natural position, he could be serviceable at the very least.
Just remember, on Monday he also showed he was capable of doing this.