Solomon Thomas has already found himself one heck of a mentor.
Thomas is a notable absence from the San Francisco 49ers OTAs. Rules prohibit the team's first-round pick from joining offseason workouts until after Stanford completes its finals for the semester.
But that doesn't mean Thomas is just sitting up in Palo Alto, Calif. resting on his laurels. He's been making great use of his time by training with future Hall-of-Famer DeMarcus Ware. The famed pass-rusher, who finished his career 138.5 career sacks, recently discussed his work with Thomas on "Good Morning Football."
"When you get a rookie who's mature enough to call a veteran and ask for help before training camp, that is big," Ware said.
Thomas took his appreciation for Ware's legacy a step further. Thomas recently decided that he is going to rock Ware's No. 94 with the 49ers. It was apparent how much the gesture meant to Ware.
"I told him, 'I don't want you to be like me, I want you to be better than me,'" Ware said. "'I'm going to show you some things that can take you to the next level.' I'm going to work with him this whole offseason. In July, when everyone is off, he's right there in Texas so I'll be working with him."
So while it would be great to have Thomas with the team right now, his work with Ware could prove to be invaluable, in 2017 and beyond. Ware told the GMFB crew that Thomas' combination of maturity, dedication and natural ability could make him a special player.
"He has that dog in him," Ware said. "He's a strong boy. He's fast."
Here's video from the workouts via Ware's Twitter account.
Perfection doesn't come in a day. Practice your craft until it becomes natural.. that's when u will see improvement. #sackmaster94 pic.twitter.com/bgcEJFUUqO — D-Ware (@DeMarcusWare) May 23, 2017
