Few college interior defensive linemen were as disruptive last season as Stanford's Solomon Thomas, who had a team-high 62 tackles and eight sacks, then stamped an exclamation point onto those numbers by showing an impressive combination of power and quickness at last month's scouting combine.
The performance boosted Thomas' profile to the point where several draft analysts -- from ESPN's Mel Kiper to the NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah -- have him being selected No. 2 overall to the 49ers in next month's draft.
There's just one hitch. San Francisco used its two most recent first-round picks on interior defensive linemen Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner.