James Thompson Jr. is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Illinois.
Thompson wins the gap play after play. Played for four head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Paul Chryst, Jim Leonhard, Luke Fickell and Bret Bielema. On tape: 7 tackles against Ohio State, Week 7, 2025.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
40 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.
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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| 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@ No. 19 Indiana | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-32vs No. 21 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 No. 1 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 |
Bowl · 2025
W 30-28
vs Tennessee · neutral site
0.5 sacks · 0.5 tackles for loss · 7 tackles
Edged out Tennessee at a neutral site in a shootout.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
8%3 TFLSack rate
5%2 sacksHurry rate
5%2 hurries40 tackles · 3 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| 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
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
45.6%
372 pass / 444 run
Plays / game
62.8
13 games
Team sack rate
8.3%
387 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
40 tackles in 12 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive lineman who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
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
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
The No. 1,310 recruit in the country is starting on the defensive line in the Big Ten as a senior.
A stat line in 40 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 2 schools: Paul Chryst, Jim Leonhard, Luke Fickell and Bret Bielema.
