49ers: 5 players who should see increased roles over rest of 2018

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SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 10: Solomon Thomas #94 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up before their game against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium on September 10, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

No. 5: Defensive End Solomon Thomas

With each passing week, it’s looking more and more like the 49ers gaffed on their first pick from the 2017, NFL Draft.

In fairness to Solomon Thomas, the Niners haven’t exactly put him in a position to succeed. He’s played the majority of snaps over the last year-plus off the edge instead of being utilized as an interior rusher, where he garnered a good deal of success at Stanford. Thomas isn’t a true edge bender, rather needing his strength and straight-line abilities to rush from a strong-side 3-technique position or, at the very least, a big-end 5-technique.

Not the weak-side LEO.

At any rate, Thomas has seen his snap count diminish considerably this season. Take a look at his in-game snap counts for 2018:

Solomon Thomas 2018 Snap Count Table
								Snap	Snap	Snap	Snap
								Def.	Def.	ST	ST
Rk	G#	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
1	1	2018-09-09	SFO	@	MIN	L 16-24	LDE	35	49.3%	4	14.3%
2	2	2018-09-16	SFO		DET	W 30-27	LDE	36	46.8%	5	14.7%
3	3	2018-09-23	SFO	@	KAN	L 27-38	LDE	43	57.3%	5	17.9%
4	4	2018-09-30	SFO	@	LAC	L 27-29	LDE	49	72.1%	5	15.6%
5	5	2018-10-07	SFO		ARI	L 18-28	LDE	36	70.6%	8	29.6%
6	6	2018-10-15	SFO	@	GNB	L 30-33	LDE	26	36.6%	7	21.2%
		Total						225		34

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/17/2018.

Yeah, just over a third of the defensive snaps in Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers? Not exactly the kind of return teams hope for from a No. 3 overall draft pick.

Rotating defensive linemen is important, and we all get that. But it’s time to let Thomas operate solely as an interior lineman from this point forward. If that means cutting down on snaps for defensive tackles Arik Armstead, Sheldon Day or Ronald Blair a bit, fine. Thomas is the bigger investment at this point.

And if Thomas doesn’t cut it in that role, you have your answer for 2019.

San Francisco 49ers: 5 players who should see increased roles over rest of 2018

By Peter Panacy | Oct 17, 2018

No. 5: Defensive End Solomon Thomas