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Recent third-overall pick Solomon Thomas won’t be able to rejoin the 49ers offseason program until later in June once Stanford’s classes are in the books. But that hasn’t stopped him from working out.
He recently spent time getting ready for his pro career with retired Cowboys and Broncos sack specialist DeMarcus Ware, whom Thomas wanted to work out with and learn from.
“When you get a rookie that’s mature (enough) to call a veteran and say, ‘Can you help me before rookie training camp?’ That was big,” Ware said this week on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.
Ware is eighth on the all-time sack list with 138.5 over his 12-year career and likely to get voted to the Hall of Fame. He retired after logging a career-low 4.0 sacks in 2016.
The 49ers would love Thomas to develop into that kind of contributor after their once-elite defense lost a slew of talent in recent seasons with the departures of Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Aldon Smith and others.
Thomas during rookie minicamp donned No. 96, but he switched to Ware’s No. 94 because he wants to mirror his impressive career, Ware said.
“To have an opportunity to work on his technique, to now him call me to say, ‘DeMarcus, I’m going to wear number 94.’ I’m like, oh, man, really? He’s like, ‘I’m going to emulate my game after you,’” said Ware.
“And I told him I was a great player when I played, but I don’t want you to play like me, I want you to be better than me. So I’m going to show some things that are going to get you to the next level.”
Thomas would be the first 49er to wear 94 since Justin Smith, who retired in 2015 after seven years in San Francisco, notching 299 tackles, 43.5 sacks and five straight Pro-Bowl appearances from 2009 to 2013. Smith was a first-team All-Pro in 2011 and will go down as one of the best defensive lineman in franchise history.
