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Solomon Thomas

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Solomon Thomas
refer to caption
Thomas with San Francisco 49ers in 2017
No. 94 – New York Jets
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1995-08-26) August 26, 1995 (age 29)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:295 lb (134 kg)
Career information
High school:Coppell (Coppell, Texas)
College:Stanford (2014–2016)
NFL draft:2017 / round: 1 / pick: 3
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2024
Total tackles:197
Sacks:16.5
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:1
Pass deflections:4
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Solomon Christopher Thomas (born August 26, 1995) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was drafted third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2017 NFL draft.

Early life

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Thomas was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 26, 1995. Thomas and his family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was two years old, where he lived for five years.[1] 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.[2] He committed to Stanford University to play college football[3] over offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and UCLA, among others[4].

College career

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After redshirting his first year with the Stanford Cardinal 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.[5][6] In recognition of his successful 2015 season, he was named as an honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference selection.[citation needed] In 2016, Thomas played and started all 13 games and had 62 total tackles with 15.0 tackles-for-loss and 8.0 sacks. Thomas was named first team All-Pac-12 and won the Morris Trophy.[7][8] Following the 2016 season, Thomas declared his intentions to enter the 2017 NFL draft.

College statistics
Season Games Tackles TFL Sack FF
2015 14 39 10.5 3.5 0
2016 13 62 15.0 8 1
Career 27 101 25.5 11.5 1

Professional career

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Pre-draft

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Coming out of Stanford, Thomas was projected to be a first round pick by the majority of analysts and scouts.[9] He was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but only chose to participate in the bench press, 40-yard dash, vertical jump, and broad jump. On March 23, 2017, Thomas attended Stanford's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He was ranked the second best defensive end (behind Myles Garrett) by NFLDraftScout.com, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated.[10][11]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2+5⁄8 in
(1.90 m) 		273 lb
(124 kg) 		33 in
(0.84 m) 		9+3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		 4.69 s 1.66 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[9]

San Francisco 49ers

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Thomas was drafted third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2017 NFL Draft.[12][13] He became the third consecutive defensive end drafted in the first round by the 49ers, joining Arik Armstead (2015) and DeForest Buckner (2016). The man who drafted Thomas—newly appointed 49ers general manager John Lynch—coincidentally studied alongside Thomas as a mature student while working as a broadcaster for FOX Sports, and counselled Thomas to leave Stanford without knowing he would be in a position to draft him as a member of the 49ers front office the following season.[14]

On July 28, 2017, the 49ers signed Thomas to a fully guaranteed four-year, $28.14 million contract that included a signing bonus of $18.61 million.[15] He played in 14 games as a rookie with 12 starts, recording 41 tackles and three sacks.

On May 1, 2020, the 49ers declined the fifth-year option on Thomas' contract, making him a free agent in 2021.[16] During the 49ers' Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets, Thomas suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the rest of the season.[17][18]

Las Vegas Raiders

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Thomas signed a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders on March 19, 2021.[19] He played in all 17 games, recording 34 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles.

New York Jets

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On March 30, 2022, Thomas signed with the Jets.[20] He was named a backup defensive tackle behind Quinnen Williams, Sheldon Rankins, and Nathan Shepherd. He played in all 17 games, recording 26 tackles, while playing 33% of snaps.

Thomas re-signed with the Jets on March 18, 2023.[21] He played in 17 games with three starts, recording a career-high five sacks.

Thomas re-signed with the Jets again on March 21, 2024.[22]

Personal life

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Thomas's older sister died by suicide in 2018 at the age of 24. He founded "The Defensive Line", a nonprofit organization aiming to reduce youth suicide.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "2017 NFL Draft: San Francisco 49ers select Australian-raised giant Solomon Thomas as third overall pick". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. April 28, 2017. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "Solomon Thomas, 2014 Strongside Defensive End, Stanford". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  3. ^ "Recruit uses live tree, nerd glasses to tell us he's going to Stanford". Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. ^ https://n.rivals.com/content/athletes/solomon-thomas-14383?view=pv
  5. ^ "Solomon Thomas leading Stanford defensive line through transition". March 3, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  6. ^ "Instead of Christian McCaffrey, is Stanford's best player DE Solomon Thomas?". October 20, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  7. ^ "McCaffrey, Thomas named first team all-Pac-12 football". November 29, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  8. ^ "Stanford's Thomas named Pac-12's Morris Trophy winner". December 14, 2016. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Combine Player Profiles – Solomon Thomas". National Football League. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. ^ Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking the 2017's draft top 100 players". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  11. ^ Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL Draft Rankings: Top by Position". si.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Wesseling, Chris (April 27, 2017). "Niners select Solomon Thomas with third pick". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  13. ^ Lyles, Harry (April 28, 2017). "Solomon Thomas can be next Michael Bennett for the 49ers". SB Nation. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  14. ^ "2017 NFL Draft: John Lynch and Solomon Thomas took a Stanford class together". April 27, 2017. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  15. ^ "Spotrac.com: Solomon Thomas contract". Spotrac.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  16. ^ Shook, Nick (May 1, 2020). "49ers decline fifth-year option on DL Solomon Thomas". NFL.com. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  17. ^ Rapp, Timothy (September 21, 2020). "49ers' Solomon Thomas' Injury Diagnosed as Torn ACL, Will Miss Rest of Season". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  18. ^ "49ers Announce Roster Moves". 49ers.com. September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  19. ^ Raiders Public Relations (March 19, 2021). "Raiders sign DT Solomon Thomas". Raiders.com. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  20. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (March 30, 2022). "Jets Sign DL Solomon Thomas". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  21. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (March 18, 2023). "Jets Re-Sign Solomon Thomas". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  22. ^ Pullano, John (March 21, 2024). "DL Solomon Thomas Re-signs with Jets". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  23. ^ Mullin, Eric (September 27, 2023). "Jets' Solomon Thomas honors late sister with mission to fight youth suicide". NBC - New York. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
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