Anterio Thompson was not invited to the NFL Combine and was not expected to be a player drafted in the NFL. There were hopes he could find a way to an NFL team as a UDFA, but then Thompson showed incredible ability at the UW Pro Day. He wowed, and the fact that he's a Washington Husky didn't hurt either.
Thompson was never on track to be an NFL Draft pick, but his final season with the Washington Huskies propelled him to the Atlanta Falcons and a 6th-round pick. He didn't start playing football until high school and ended up going to a junior college after. In 2023, he jumped to the Iowa Hawkeyes but was fairly buried, so he headed to Western Michigan for 2024 and gathered enough momentum to get high-major offers again in the transfer portal.
Jedd Fisch's developmental program propelled Anterio Thompson to the NFL
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Jedd Fisch came calling and got him as a big part of the rotational defensive line. He was a disrupter and a lane clogger. He's big, strong, and plays with burst, and they took a MAC player and even turned his stats up in the Big Ten. That's the first real home run for the Fisch development plan.
However, he still wasn't really considered an NFL Draft pick, and that's shown by his non-invite to the NFL Combine. Then his UW Pro Day came along, and he absolutely showcased elite athleticism. There was only one thing revealed at Pro Day that potentially hurt his chances, and it's nothing the Huskies can do anything about.
Anterio Thompson was drafted in round 6 with pick 208 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.39 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 141 out of 2278 DT from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/dNBR7nJrQG pic.twitter.com/zDnnu5m0Ra
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 25, 2026
He was measured a couple of inches shorter than his listed height. That's not ideal, but everything else seemed to turn up with impressive numbers. He's faster than a 300-pound man should be, and he can explode off the line. That shows on the tape, too, as he was a major disruptor last season.
The fact that he improved as a Husky and put up good numbers in the Big Ten, his UW Pro Day, and the fact that teams like the Atlanta Falcons know he's being developed to be a pro at Washington are all huge for the Huskies and Jedd Fisch. The Falcons have plenty of experience with Husky players and even recent ones; they know who they are getting in Thompson and what program he developed in. That was the final selling point.
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