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Josh Thompson (born in Fenton, Michigan) is an American football guard who played college football at Northwestern and LSU. He is projected to be selected in the 2026 NFL draft.^[1] Thompson was a four-year letterman at Fenton High School, where he was named to the Detroit Free Press All-State Dream Team and was a two-time Flint Journal Dream Team selection.^[2] At Northwestern, he started 21 games over two seasons and was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2024.^[2] He transferred to LSU for the 2025 season, where he was rated as the No. 2 interior offensive lineman and No. 16 overall transfer in the NCAA Transfer Portal by 247Sports.^[3]

Thompson grew up in Fenton, Michigan, a small city in Genesee County approximately 60 miles northwest of Detroit. He attended Fenton High School, where he played under head coach Jeff Setzke.^[4] Thompson began playing football at age seven, when he was allowed to play up an age group due to his size.^[4] Thompson comes from a football family with deep roots in the Fenton community. His father, Randall Thompson, played football at Central Michigan University. His older brother, Reid Thompson, was a 2016

Detroit Free Press Dream Team and Detroit News All-State Dream Team selection at Fenton High School and went on to start 20 games at center over three seasons at Wayne State University, where he was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society.^[5][6] Fenton High School subsequently named its Lineman of the Year award after the Thompson brothers in recognition of their contributions to the program. As a four-year letterman and three-year starter at Fenton, Thompson played right guard, right tackle, and left tackle. He did not allow a sack during his high school career and recorded 141 pancake blocks. Teams on which he started compiled a 34–9 record with multiple top-10 state rankings.^[2][7] Thompson earned numerous honors during his prep career. He was a two-time Flint Journal Dream Team offensive selection (2019, 2020), a three-time first-team All- Area selection, and a two-time unanimous first-team Flint Metro League selection.^[2] As a junior, he received first-team All-State honors from the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, and the Associated Press.^[2] As a senior, he was named to the Detroit Free Press Dream Team, was a Sports Illustrated Preseason All-America candidate, a MHSFCA Division 2 All- Region First Team selection, and a Mr. Football Anvil Award contestant.^[2][8] Thompson was rated as the No. 35 offensive guard nationally and the No. 20 overall recruit in Michigan by 247Sports.^[7] He was also ranked as the No. 7 prospect in Michigan by The D Zone.^[9] He is considered the first Division I starter in the Big Ten or SEC from Fenton, Michigan in over two decades.

Thompson committed to Northwestern on March 24, 2020, choosing the Wildcats over offers from schools including Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Akron, Buffalo, and Northern Illinois. He had also drawn interest from Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Purdue.^[4][9] After redshirting in 2021 and seeing limited action on special teams in 2022, Thompson earned the starting right tackle position for the 2023 season. He started 11 games, logging 761 offensive snaps and allowing only two sacks on the season, both in the same game against Penn State. He did not allow a sack in the final eight games of 2023.^[2] In 2024, Thompson moved to right guard and started all 10 games in which he appeared, missing two games due to injury. He was rated by Pro Football Focus as the highest-graded right guard in the Big Ten with an 82.0 pass-blocking grade and did not allow a sack the entire season. He was named to the PFF Big Ten Team of the Week twice and earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention from both the coaches and media.^[2][10] Over his final 18 games at Northwestern, Thompson did not surrender a sack on 833 pass-blocking opportunities.^[3]

Following the 2024 season, Thompson entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. He was rated as the No. 2 interior offensive lineman and No. 16 overall transfer by 247Sports.^[3] He received interest from multiple programs, including Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Tennessee.^[11][10] Thompson chose LSU, where he played for offensive line coach Brad Davis, who had helped place four offensive linemen into the 2025 NFL draft, including first-round pick Will Campbell.^[12] CBS Sports analyst Josh Edwards projected Thompson as a player with the profile of a future NFL All-Pro, based on analysis of All-Pro honoree patterns over the preceding six years.^[13] At LSU, Thompson started every game at right guard, blocking for projected first-round quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.^[13] He did not allow a sack during the 2025 season and logged more offensive snaps than any other player on the offensive side of the ball, playing approximately 140 more snaps than the next-closest offensive player.^[14] His zero-sack streak, which began during the final eight games of the 2023 season at Northwestern, extended through the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons, spanning three years and two programs across the Big Ten and SEC.^[3][14]

Thompson measured 6 feet 5 inches and 317 pounds. The Athletic's Dane Brugler ranked him as the No. 8 interior offensive lineman among seniors expected to be in the 2026 NFL draft.^[1] He was invited to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine and has a prospect profile on NFL.com.^[15] His LSU Pro Day was held on March 23, 2026. Multiple draft projections place him in the mid-to-late rounds.^[16]

Thompson is the son of Randall and Karen Thompson.^[6] He has eight siblings, including his brother Reid.^[3] Reid Thompson, also a Fenton High School graduate and football standout, made 20 starts at center at Wayne

State University (Michigan) and was inducted into the NFF Hampshire Honor Society. Reid currently operates an offensive line training academy.^[17] Thompson has been named to the Academic All-Big Ten team in both 2023 and 2024.^[2]