4-Star Defensive Back Chris Thompson Signs With Auburn

In today’s world of “Crystal Ball” picks and “FutureCast” predictions, it’s usually pretty easy to have a feeling about what team a player is about to pick when they get ready to announce their commitment. Even if things were topsy, turvy for much of his recruitment, chances are pretty good if there are late predictions coming in for one program then that school will likely be the one to receive good news.

But that’s not always the case.

4* S Chris Thompson Jr. was thought to be a lock to the Texas Longhorns pretty much his whole recruitment. The Horns were one of the first programs to offer the Duncanville native and considering the campus is only an hour away, it was believed that beating Texas, let along pulling him out of the state would be almost impossible.

But Auburn always felt there was a chance. Wesley McGriff quickly made Thompson a priority once rejoining Auburn’s coaching staff. The Tigers offered in March and then hosted him on campus for a visit a month later where the staff really impressed Thompson and his family. Still, no way Auburn could pluck this talented athlete out of Texas right?

Turns out they absolutely could. Now he’s officially an Auburn Tiger.

Thompson is a big, physical athlete who can deliver some blows to receivers. He’s at his best coming downhill in support of the run game or taking the head off of a passing wide receiver. He’s someone that Kevin Steele will likely roll down into the box frequently to help defend the run.

The knock on Thompson is the same knock on Jamien Sherwood a couple of years ago. There is a fear that given his size, he might outgrow the safety position but not be big enough to play linebacker. There’s also questions about how his ability to cover especially if asked to match up in man, again similar concerns that evaluators had with Sherwood, which is why he has slid down in the rankings over the past cycle. But having seen what Auburn has done with the likes of Daniel Thomas and Jamien Sherwood the past few seasons, I have every reason to believe that Auburn will get the best out of Thompson and he has a chance to be an early impact player.

War Eagle Chris!