#90

James Thompson Jr.

Senior defensive lineman for Illinois. 2025: 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 40 tackles.

DL · Illinois · Sr. · #90

6′6″ · 300 lb · Cincinnati, OH

CFB Index 75 · #53 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Illinois for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Sacks: 80th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

3 TFL · 40 tackles · 2 hurries

Best game: 0.5 sacks, 0.5 TFL, 7 tackles, vs Tennessee

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Illinois. 2025: 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 40 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Wisconsin in 2020.
Transferred from Wisconsin to Illinois in 2025.

His career, year by year

James Thompson Jr.

DL · Illinois · Sr · #90

Wins his gap play after play. Four head coaches in four seasons, at two different programs. The receipt on tape: 7 tackles against Ohio State, Week 7, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Wisconsin9-4HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

2022Wisconsin7-6HC: Jim Leonhard · Run-heavy

2023Wisconsin7-6HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

2025Illinois9-4HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

75All-Conference level #53 of 330?

Low confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Tackles#906 / 2975 · 69th pct

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0

Solo tackles#1252 / 2975 · 56th pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.0	0.3	0.1	0.1
Road5g	2.4	0.2	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	3.5	0.2	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	3.0	0.2	0.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bret Bielema

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

75 · #53 of 330 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #53 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #15 of 69 Big Ten DLs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Illinois	40	17	3.0	2.0	1	--	--
2023	Wisconsin	29	19	5.5	3.0	2	--	--
2022	Wisconsin	21	10	6.5	2.0	--	--	--
2021	Wisconsin	7	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		97	47	15.0	7.0	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2025

W 34–32

vs USC

3 TOT · 2 SOLO · 0 SACKS

Edged out USC at home in a shootout.

With L. Altmyer — 328 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 97.5 · 28 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · H. Beatty — 3 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 100.0

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 52-3vs Western Illinois	2	0	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 45-19@ Duke	4	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 38-0vs Western Michigan	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 10-63@ Indiana	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 34-32vs USC	3	2	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 6	W 43-27@ Purdue	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 16-34vs Ohio State	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 9	L 25-42@ Washington	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 35-13vs Rutgers	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 13	L 10-27@ Wisconsin	4	3	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 20-13vs Northwestern	3	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 30-28vs Tennessee	7	2	0.5	0.5	—	0
Total		40	17	3.0	2.0	—	1

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

40Tackles

17Solo

3TFL

2Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

40 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.

Week 10.5 sacks
Week 50.5 sacks
Week 101 PD
Week 131 sack

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Illinois

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Illinois

Returning around him

3 Illinois players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -7 net (20 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Illinois · Last season: 9-4 (AP #23) · Talent rank #51 · 2026 recruiting class #24

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jarrett Jackson’s 2021 season.

Jarrett Jackson

88%match

Florida State · 2021

Elijah Garcia

Rice · 2021

All-Conference USA

84%

Jaden Crumedy

Mississippi State · 2023

NFL Rd 6

82%

Dion Wilson Jr.

New Mexico State · 2023

82%

Matches Jarrett on

Weight

TFL rate

Hurry rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Dion Wilson Jr.'s senior season at New Mexico State (2023).

Dion Wilson Jr.

83%match

New Mexico State · 2023

Jaden Crumedy

Mississippi State · 2023

NFL Rd 6

83%

Logan Lee

Iowa · 2023

NFL Rd 6

82%

Nathan Pickering

Mississippi State · 2023

80%

Michael Diatta

Virginia · 2024

80%

Matches Dion on

Sack rate

Weight

TFL rate

Differs from Dion on

Hurry rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like James Thompson Jr.

Nate Becker

Minnesota · 2025

85%

E'Maurion Banks

Texas Tech · 2023

84%

Jide Abasiri

USC · 2026

83%

Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder

Kansas State · 2025

83%

Nathan Robinson

Tennessee · 2025

80%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

2020

202512 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like James Thompson Jr.