How Solomon Thomas wound up getting drafted to the 49ers by a college classmate

John Lynch is the 49ers’ general manager, and his first move at the NFL draft on Thursday was to trade down from the second overall pick to the third. His next move was to spend the No. 3 pick on Stanford defensive tackle Solomon Thomas.

Lynch and Thomas had a unique bit of history together. When Thomas was a freshman at Stanford in 2014, Lynch turned up on campus. Via The MMQB’s Jenny Vrentas:

One of the classes he took that semester was a Management Science and Engineering class on how to make good decisions. Not only was Thomas in his class—they worked together on a project.

And:

Thomas got a B+ in the class. He doesn’t know Lynch’s grade but guesses it was an A. Afterward, they kept in touch, Thomas reaching out to the nine-time Pro Bowler for advice.

Two reactions here:

A follow-up note from The MMQB’s Peter King, reporting on the phone call between Thomas and Lynch on draft night:

“Solomon! It’s me! … John Lynch! You want to be a 49er?”

Thomas is a havoc-wreaking tackle who could turn out to be downright Michael Bennett-like for the Niners. Dan Kadar’s scouting report:

Thomas is kind of a strange player to evaluate. He’s not a true edge player, but he’s also not a true interior defensive lineman. Thomas’ best fit in the NFL will be as a base end who can move inside on pass rush plays. He fits that profile because he has the ability to overpower opponents. Unlike some power ends, though, he has good quickness to win on the edge. Thomas can get off blocks in a hurry and violently. He can dominate against the run and has nice pursuit speed if he’s away from the play.

However, he doesn’t have the speed and length combination you often seek in a true end, and Stanford didn’t rush him from the edge a lot.

Speaking of Lynch and Thomas-related grades, Kadar gave the whole Niners’ draft a B-.