With the final week of voluntary OTAs came another onslaught of thoughts from Raiders players.
One that stood out to me was newcomer defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and how he brings leadership and a winning mentality to Las Vegas.
"I just want to bring what I've learned in my career and what I've learned in my time over in San Francisco over here,” Thomas said via Raiders.com.
“Especially the year that we went to the Super Bowl. Just trying to bring some leadership with that, teaching the guys about unity and how important it is to be together.”
“Communication is on point, just small details we're on top of like running to the ball; everybody knowing the call; knowing their assignment; having each other's back. That's a reason why we were able to go so far in the playoffs.”
“Just trying to bring that and what I've learned in my career over here because I'm Year 5 now. I'm a vet, trying to step up as a leader and be someone that can help guys out over here."
While Thomas may consider himself on the cusp of being a veteran, he definitely has experience in the postseason and importantly, knowledge of what it takes to get to the Super Bowl.
He achieved that feat during his time with the San Francisco 49ers.
However, last season, Thomas had a rough outing after he ended up on the Reserve/Injury List due to a season-ending knee injury. Thomas started in a mere two games and recorded two tackles on the season.
Yet, in 2019, Thomas played in all 16 games including starting in three contests. He booked 21 tackles including 15 solo tackles and two sacks for the regular season. During the postseason run to Super Bowl LIV, Thomas booked four tackles and one sack in three postseason games.
While it’s important to get the football fundamentals down, it’s also important to have a winning mentality.
Thomas comes from success and he brings a much-needed winning mentality to him to sin city.
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