PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Jordan Thompson is making a case this year for an increased role with Rutgers football. The defensive lineman has seen his impact grow in a Rutgers unit that is deep and talented.
As he has gotten more comfortable in the playbook, he is now more comfortable in the opposing team’s backfield.
On the season, Thompson has nine total tackles and an interception. The redshirt junior is on pace to eclipse last year’s tackle total for Rutgers (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten). The product of Parsippany Hills High School has had three tackles this season in each of the wins over Virginia Tech and Temple.
The Scarlet Knights play at Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) on Saturday at noon. The game will be streamed on Peacock.
Thompson, with good length and a strong motor, has continued to rise through the program’s depth chart and is now playing a significant role in the rotation of linemen. But it wasn’t the physical component where Thompson felt he needed to make strides.
Instead, he attributes his increased production this year to a greater understanding of the defense. It is the embodiment of a program that heralds itself as developmental.
“Just understanding the playbook barely last year – I was like playing kind of scared. I had an injury last year too,” Thompson told Rutgers Wire this week.
“So maybe…I was thinking way too much last year but this year I finally got healthy. I finally actually know my playbook inside and out. So I feel like I started closing all the little things. Now, I just focus on the big things.”
It’s been a hot week, especially by October standards in New Jersey. Thompson is coming from an ice bath following a second straight practice where temperatures had reached the low 80s.
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He sits down in a chair at a building outside the team’s practice facility. He apologizes for being all wet.
A small pool of water is forming at his feet, the effects of the ice bath still being felt. While Thompson might be chilled, he is warm and inviting with a personality that has a hint of an old soul.
He is a bundle of smiles when talking about playing high school football at Parsippany Hills, a program that has sent several players to Rutgers over the past few years including long-snapper Billy Taylor. It is hard to imagine that this young man, so peaceful and with a happy presence, has made his mark for Rutgers in such a physical way.
Thompson is the prototype of the Rutgers defense this year. He and the rest of the unit are playing with a violence that has helped elevate the Scarlet Knights to their best start since Greg Schiano returned as head coach in 2020.
He dives into the difference a year makes. An offseason spent understanding the playbook and his role in the defense made a difference, Thompson said.
With his confidence in the playbook improved, Thompson is able to understand his role in certain situations better. This means that he can simply go out and play his role on the field.
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It is not easy to crack a defensive line that might be the deepest unit on the Rutgers two-deep. The accountability from the group is evident in his game and in the line’s production this year.
“One hundred percent. I think one of the main things is the fact that our whole defensive line is that we’re teammates and we treat each other like brothers,” Thompson said.
“Like, everyone’s accountable for themselves. Even if a leader messes up, we’re all on him about it. It’s just a brotherhood that keeps us all together. I feel like it’s really just crazy when we are playing because you can trust the brother next to you. You can trust them – trust them throughout the entire game.”
There is a connection to Rutgers that was deep and natural for Thompson and played itself out early in his recruitment.
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Thompson’s mother, a Rutgers graduate in 1991, ran track for Rutgers. The idea of playing at Rutgers was at the forefront of his mind from early on in the recruiting process.
A member of the 2021 recruiting class, Rutgers got on Thompson early in the process. He was offered in March of his junior year and Thompson committed to Rutgers just days later.
The return of Schiano, now in his fourth year back with the program, cemented Rutgers early in his recruitment as the clear-cut leader. Even after committing to Rutgers in March, offers from programs like Pittsburgh didn’t manage to sway Thompson.
Rutgers was the leader, even before they officially got involved.
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“I guess kind of like my freshman year once I realized I actually could get somewhere with football. And it took me a while to get that mindset going. Once in my freshman year, I was like, ‘Oh, but maybe we can actually do this.’ And then once I kind of set my sights really high,” Thompson said.
“And my mom went to Rutgers, my dad played DI football (at New Hampshire) as a player. So I was thinking (that) I want to be close to home and then once coach Schiano came back, I was like ‘Oh, yeah, I definitely want (an offer) from Rutgers.
“As soon as I got an offer I knew – I really don’t have an interest in anywhere else. Like, there’s no point in me to focus on recruiting. In my mind, I was committed here.”
Thompson pauses to point to the ground with his index finger.
“This is where I want to go – here,” Thompson said.
“It was my dream school. There’s not really any point in me trying to talk to people when I know this is where I’m going.”