Safety | Alabama | Redshirt junior

Height: 6-foot-1 | Weight: 195 pounds

College Stats

2018: 79 tackles (48 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, 6 pass breakups, 2 interceptions in 15 games

Career: 113 tackles (70 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, 7 pass breakups, 3 interceptions in 43 games

Profile

Summary: Thompson arrived at Alabama in January 2015 as one of the top prospects at safety (ranked No. 3 by ESPN and Rivals.com and No. 2 by 247Sports) but wound up redshirting while the Crimson Tide rolled with Eddie Jackson (2017 fourth-round pick of the Bears), Minkah Fitzpatrick (2018 first-round pick of the Dolphins) and Ronnie Harrison (2018 third-round pick of the Jaguars) in the secondary. He played special teams in 2016, totaling nine tackles, before working his way into the defensive rotation in 2017, when he made two starts.

This past fall, Thompson became a starter and ranked second on the team in tackles and led the Crimson Tide with 48 solo stops en route to garnering consensus All-America honors from the Associated Press. He was named First-Team All-SEC by coaches and Second-Team All-SEC by the AP.

Thompson was invited to the combine, but he was recovering from a torn ligament in his right wrist and did not participate in on-field drills.

During a media session, he explained "Just a freak accident in the weight room, lifting heavy weight. Felt a pop, and that was that. … Decided to attack surgery early."

Thompson said he is targeting Alabama's make-up pro day on April 2.

NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote that he views Thompson as a "talented high-safety prospect with good range and ball skills who will experience occasional bumps in the road as he grows into a finished product."

Zierlein added that Thompson plays with "desired levels of explosiveness and chance-taking in his coverage, but inconsistencies against Oklahoma and Clemson show that he may not be ready to step right in as a pro."

Click **here** for Thompson's full NFL.com scouting report.

Stacking up: The Athletic's Dane Brugler rated Thompson as the No. 2 safety in this year's class, and NFL.com's Bucky Brooks ranked Thompson No. 3 in pre-combine evaluations.

In his words: The Texas native said he chose Alabama because of the "great tradition of defensive backs who are in the league now." He added that Head Coach Nick Saban's influence helped in team and position meetings.

"I played for the best coach in college football," Thompson said at the combine. "He's going to go down as the greatest coach in college football history. So just being able to be in that room with him every day, be at practice with him every day, getting critiqued by him every day, it made me the player that I am."