Usage / Role
81%
Major defensive role
Player Dossier
2020-2025Illinois
DL • 6'6" • 300 lbs • Cincinnati, OH, USA
James Thompson Jr. shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 20.6 disruption score.
Usage / Role
81%
Major defensive role
Impact Production
99
Top-tier box-score impact for a defensive lineman
Reliability
100
Regular contributor with several takeover games
Star Power
73
High-upside career profile
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2022 Postseason · Wisconsin
Snapshot
Player Story
James Thompson Jr. built his college career from 2020 through 2025 as a defensive lineman from Cincinnati, OH wearing No. 90, spending time with Illinois and Wisconsin. The clearest part of James Thompson Jr.'s...
Read the storyJames Thompson Jr., DL. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2022 Postseason · Wisconsin. James Thompson Jr. shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 20.6 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Quick Answers
Season Ledger
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2021 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 5 | 7 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 38.6 |
| 2022 Postseason | Wisconsin | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 66.6 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 11 | 20 | 5.5 | 1 | 2 | - | 0 | 66.6 |
| 2023 Postseason | Wisconsin | 12 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 45.1 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 12 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 45.1 |
| 2024 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2025 Postseason | Illinois | 12 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | - | - | 0 | 36.2 |
| 2025 Regular Season | Illinois | 12 | 33 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 36.2 |
Related Context
Transfer Portal History
James Thompson Jr. played DL for Wisconsin and Illinois. Across 6 tracked seasons, James Thompson Jr. recorded 97 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2025 with Illinois.
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2022 Postseason
Wisconsin paired 10.5 primary output with 17.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
2025 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 20.6 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2025 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Multi-stop career journey
Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Wisconsin, Illinois.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Wisconsin
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
Games
12
Havoc Plays / G
0.7
Efficiency
20.6
Usage
4.9
Consistency
13.9
Best Game by takeover score
Wisconsin
Active game
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Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Tennessee: 1. Western Illinois: 2. Duke: 0. Western Michigan: 0. Indiana: 0. USC: 1. Purdue: 0. Ohio State: 0. Washington: 0. Rutgers: 1. Wisconsin: 3. Northwestern: 0
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
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Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Tennessee: 7 by 39.2. Western Illinois: 2 by 28.3. Duke: 4 by 16.7. Western Michigan: 2 by 8.3. Indiana: 1 by 4.2. USC: 3 by 22.5. Purdue: 2 by 8.3. Ohio State: 7 by 29.2. Washington: 1 by 4.2. Rutgers: 4 by 26.7. Wisconsin: 4 by 46.7. Northwestern: 3 by 12.5
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Wisconsin
Best efficiency game
46.7 vs Wisconsin
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 12/30 | vs Tennessee | W 30-28 | 7 | 2 | — | 0.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/30 | vs Northwestern | W 20-13 | 3 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/23 | @ WisconsinSplash game | L 10-27 | 4 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/1 | vs Rutgers | W 35-13 | 4 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/25 | @ Washington | L 25-42 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/11 | vs Ohio State | L 16-34 | 7 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/4 | @ Purdue | W 43-27 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/27 | vs USC | W 34-32 | 3 | 2 | — | 0.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/20 | @ Indiana | L 10-63 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/13 | vs Western Michigan | W 38-0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/6 | @ Duke | W 45-19 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Fri 8/29 | vs Western IllinoisSplash game | W 52-3 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
James Thompson Jr. built his college career from 2020 through 2025 as a defensive lineman from Cincinnati, OH wearing No. 90, spending time with Illinois and Wisconsin. The clearest part of James Thompson Jr.'s career was his defensive production: 97 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, and 3 passes defended across 40 career games in the available record. That gives James Thompson Jr.'s career enough real context without stretching the story beyond the available production.
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
Wisconsin
2020-2024
Opening stop
Illinois
2025
Final stop
Season Value Progression
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2021 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 0 | 5.8 | 1.2 | 0 |
| 2022 Postseason | Wisconsin | 10.5 | 17.5 | 13.7 | 10.5 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 10.5 | 17.5 | 13.7 | 0 |
| 2023 Postseason | Wisconsin | 11.5 | 19.7 | 4.9 | 1 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 11.5 | 19.7 | 4.9 | 0 |
| 2024 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 0 | — | — | -11.5 |
| 2025 Postseason | Illinois | 8 | 20.6 | 4.9 | 8 |
| 2025 Regular Season | Illinois | 8 | 20.6 | 4.9 | 0 |
#1 Featured game
@ Purdue
Week 4 · W 38-17 · Conference game
Win with 4 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4
Havoc Plays
88.3 takeover
4 disruption/tackle impact with 88.3 takeover score.
#2
@ No. 85 Wisconsin
Week 13 · L 10-27 · Conference game
3
Havoc Plays
82.2 takeover
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 82.2 takeover score.
#3
@ Washington State
Week 2 · L 22-31
3.5
Havoc Plays
81.1 takeover
Loss with 3.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3.5 disruption/tackle impact with 81.1 takeover score.
#4
@ Oklahoma State
Week 1 · W 24-17 · Postseason
2
Havoc Plays
74.7 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 74.7 takeover score.
#5
@ Michigan State
Week 7 · L 28-34 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
66.1 takeover
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 66.1 takeover score.
#1 Season by Season Value
2022 Postseason · Wisconsin
10.5 primary output · 17.5 efficiency · 13.7 usage
66.6
#2
2022 Regular Season · Wisconsin
66.6
10.5 primary · 17.5 efficiency · 13.7 usage
#3
2023 Postseason · Wisconsin
45.1
11.5 primary · 19.7 efficiency · 4.9 usage
6
Impact games
8
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
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