49ers: Solomon Thomas confirmed to have torn ACL

San Francisco 49ers’ defensive lineman Solomon Thomas has confirmed to have torn his ACL.

The hits just keep coming for the San Francisco 49ers. Following an unprecedented string of injuries on Sunday, the update regarding defensive lineman Solomon Thomas has been yet another instance of bad news.

Thomas was carted off in the first half of Sunday’s dominant 31-13 victory over the New York Jets. The initial prognosis didn’t look good, and Monday’s news supports that notion.

The MRI results came back — following a brief delay from a broken down truck — and they revealed that Thomas had indeed torn his ACL. That’s a devastating blow for a player who’s overcome a lot to this point.

The third overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Thomas has never lived up to expectations with the 49ers. A difficult rookie season saw him finish with just three sacks despite the fact that he started 12 games at defensive end.

Unfortunately, that would end up being the high point of his career, at least in terms of sacks. Thomas managed just three total sacks between 2018 and 2019 failing to find a defined role in San Francisco’s defense.

Not explosive enough to be a true edge rusher, the 49ers tried shifting him inside which is where he spent the better part of the last two years. But while the move has allowed him to find a consistent role, it hasn’t produced exceptional results.

Solomon Thomas’ injury might be the end of his time with the 49ers.

The 49ers opted to decline Thomas’ fifth-year option meaning that he’s set to be a free agent after this season. Which, in all likelihood, could spell the end of his 49ers career.

It’s a career that never took off in the way that it should have due in part to an undefined role, personal off-field tragedies, and disappointing on-field play.

The 49ers will now look to regroup with their once strong defensive line looking rather thin. The losses of both Thomas and Nick Bosa further deplete a defensive line that also lost Kerry Hyder on Sunday.

Hyder was filling in for the injured Dee Ford who sat out in Week 2 due to neck spasms. His status going forward remains unclear. The team did sign Ezekiel Ansah to provide some further depth, but the defensive line is looking thinner than it has in a while.

This is obviously a devastating blow for the 49ers and more so Thomas who may have seen his career in San Francisco end not with a bang but with a whimper.