Josh Thompson

Draft-Week Buzz

No verified pre-draft news items in the past 30 days for this prospect. See Day 2/3 Team Fits below for projected landing spots and /news.html for the cross-prospect timeline.

Background

LSU IOL from Shreveport (LA); four-year Tiger interior.

College Production

2022-25 LSU: 30+ starts split across G spots.

Scouting Take

SEC-tested power guard. Athletic ceiling limited; older prospect.

Draft Projection

UDFA. Interior depth.

Sources

• ESPN Player Page
• Wikipedia
• 247Sports Profile

Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.

Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits

NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Josh Thompson as a Day 2/3 replacement option.

• VERIFIED Las Vegas Raiders: moved on from Alex Cappa (zone-G) on 2026-03-09. [verified]
  Picks held: R1 #1; R2 #36
• REPORTED Dallas Cowboys: moved on from Tyler Biadasz (zone-C).
  Picks held: R1 #12; R1 #20 via Green Bay
• REPORTED New York Jets: moved on from Mekhi Becton (power-guard).
  Picks held: R1 #2; R1 #16 via Indianapolis; R2 #33; R2 #44 via Dallas

Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.

NFL Scheme Fit

Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.

Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook

Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.

Versatility, Limits & Roster Pathway

Derived from height/weight against the 2026 position cohort and the prospect's projected round. Versatility callouts identify alternate alignments NFL teams have historically used for similar size profiles. Limiting-trait notes flag the single most-cited measurable concern; severity reflects how often that flag ends a Day 1 starter projection. Roster-pathway notes describe the realistic Year 1 NFL role for Day 3 picks.

By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context

• Frame: Among 2026 IOL prospects, his 6-5 / 320 lbs frame sits at the 89th percentile in height and 97th percentile in weight.
• Position class: Josh Thompson is IOL #37 of 37 ranked IOLs in the 2026 class. Of those, 20 are projected in the R7/UDFA range.
• School pipeline: One of 13 LSU prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft — but the only IOL.

Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.

Josh Thompson’s NFL Archetype: Quenton Nelson

Quenton Nelson (Indianapolis Colts)

Closest IOL physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-5/320 lbs. Same frame, same role bucket — NOT a talent or career-arc projection.

Note: this is a physical-profile match — frame, position, role bucket. Not a talent or career-arc projection.

Similar Interior OL (C/G Prospects

Closest matches to Josh Thompson (6-5 / 320 lbs, #37 IOL) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.

• Izavion MillerSIZE MATCH Auburn · 6-5/320 lbs · #36 IOL · UDFA
• Jaren KumpTIER MATCH Utah · 6-5/305 lbs · #35 IOL · UDFA
• Davion CarterSIZE MATCH Texas Tech · 6-5/315 lbs · #33 IOL · UDFA
• Bryce FosterSIZE MATCH Kansas · 6-5/315 lbs · #32 IOL · UDFA
• Keagen TrostSIZE MATCH Missouri · 6-5/320 lbs · #29 IOL · UDFA

→ Full Interior OL (C/G) rankings

LSU & The 2026 Class