Bears fans by now probably have at least caught wind of the name Solomon Thomas. He announced himself to the nation a week or so ago when he almost single-handedly won the Sun Bowl for Stanford against top QB prospect Mitch Trubisky and North Carolina.
Solomon Thomas #90- Beast from Coppell HS,TX pic.twitter.com/NAzjBvEId2
— Albert Garcia (@yokid01) December 30, 2016
This wasn’t an isolated incident either. Thomas has spent most of the year terrorizing offenses. He finished with 61 tackles (14.5 for a loss) and 8.5 sacks. That doesn’t even cover the countless other pressures and hits he put on quarterbacks during the year.
At 6’3″, 280 lbs he looks like a defensive end but watching him move and run, one would swear he’s an oversized linebacker. That’s how fast and explosive he is. His fluidity and change-of-direction skills rail against the laws of physics at times. Already he’s made gigantic leaps of draft boards since the end of the college season and that figures to continue.
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Thomas won’t be 22-years old until December of this year. He’s graduating from Stanford, so it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s intelligent. Adding to that he has said on more than one occasion how much he loves the sport of football. Best of all for Bears fans? He was born in Chicago. Officially he would be the second native son drafted third overall in franchise history.
The other was Dick Butkus. It also doesn’t hurt when a notable draft expert has no qualms about comparing you to J.J. Watt either.
Watching Stanford's Solomon Thomas looks incredibly similar to watching JJ Watt when he was coming out of Wisconsin. Very, very, similar
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) January 4, 2017
Stanford head coach David Shaw, considered one of the best in college football and someone who has coached in the NFL, can’t say enough about how good Thomas is.
“Solomon is that rare combination of athletic ability, speed, mentality and technique. He’s great with his hands, he’s determined every single play to make a play. He’s one of those guys that doesn’t stay blocked. And he takes his leadership role very seriously. He’s very demanding of his teammates, so before you can do that you have to be demanding of yourself.”
What is the point of all this? A Chicago Bears Solomon Thomas idea for the #3 pick cannot and should not be dismissed. This young man has shown he can impact ball games and doesn’t need a loaded roster of NFL talent around him to do it. Isn’t that what Ryan Pace said he was looking for after the season ended?
“I think when you’re picking top five, you’re looking for an impact guy. Different positions will have different expectations, depending who you’re picking. The quarterback position’s one we talk a lot about, but sometimes playing a quarterback right away isn’t the best thing. So we just have to take a look at who it is, and what position it is.”
Thomas is definitely that. Having spent the past two years going after those sexy, athletic types have met with mixed results for the Bears. Maybe it’s time to just take an honest-to-God football player. Thomas makes grown men look like boys. He most definitely can play outside linebacker in a 3-4. His dimensions are very similar to Pernell McPhee and he might be faster and more agile.
Chicago teams have had success drafting young men born in the shadow of their city. It was true for Butkus, true for Johnny Kerr, and true for Derrick Rose. The Bears wanted a team full of their own, homegrown talent. It wouldn’t get much more literal than with Solomon Thomas.
