Projected draft grade and potential landing spots:
There is no doubt that the past season cost Thompson some money. Coming off his 3 sack Liberty Bowl, a lot of people thought he could be a first-round pick with a decent junior year. Guys that have his sort of size and athletic ability are just very rare. He’s shown that he has the ability to dominate a line of scrimmage at times and even a solid year would have helped him be a day 2 pick in my mind.
Unfortunately, I think that those injuries are going to hurt him in the draft. Having never put together a full season of good film teams are not going to risk a high pick just on potential. Right now I think that he probably has a ceiling of the 3rd round if a team really falls in love with him. That being said, I also don’t think he falls any further than the 5th round. This is a week class for defensive tackles and even with the injuries, he’s still a top 10 player at his position.
If you’re looking at potentially landing spots, how about basically everyone. If there is a team out there that doesn’t need more depth on the defensive line? Ideally I think Thompson will end up fitting in best in a 4-3 scheme unlike what UGA run. I think that ideally, I’d want to see him in a similar scheme to what the Bengals and Cowboys run. I can see him fitting in really well as a pass rushing defensive tackle much like Geno Atkins.