One of the biggest winners from the Washington Huskies’ Pro Day on Monday was defensive tackle Anterio Thompson.
The Western Michigan transfer, who admitted that he mulled the possibility of applying for an NCAA waiver to receive another year of eligibility and return to Washington for the 2026 season, but chose to forgo that process after seeing how other cases around the country had been handled, showed off his explosive athleticism with his 4.73 unofficial 40-yard dash, which would have been the fasted of any player at his position at the NFL combine.
He also posted 30 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press and thrived during the on-field drills, showcasing the improved pass rush technique that he worked on throughout his one season in Seattle with defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi, where he recorded 30 tackles, 2.5 for loss, with 1.5 sacks and 2 pass breakups.
After four stops in four seasons, which began at the junior college level, Thompson had always shown the desired traits needed to succeed, and following his workout, he said that the biggest catalyst behind his growth at Washington was a shift in his mindset.
29.5 inch vertical from Anterio Thompson pic.twitter.com/nLIC82XxDk
— Roman Tomashoff (@rtomashoff34) March 16, 2026
“I learned to trust the process,” Thompson said when asked what he learned about himself at Washington. “Me being a guy that typically didn’t trust the process and wanted to rush through things, I kind of got frustrated. Just going in and talking to Coach Kaufusi every chance I get, and just learning new things, and taking the coaching. I’d say that’s big; it’s just me taking coaching and being coachable.”
While Thompson didn’t receive an invitation to the combine, moving forward, that’s something that he wants to use as motivation if he does get an opportunity to sign with an NFL team.
“I was definitely in the process of just seeing if I was getting called them a few times. I was in consideration, but just to find out the news that I didn’t get the invite, I definitely felt like it was a chip on my shoulder,” he added.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Anterio Thompson’s mindset shift helped him succeed with UW football
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