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In the course of two crunching hits against the West Virginia Mountaineers last fall, Texas Longhorns defensive back Mykkele Thompson finally started to erase questions about his physicality.
The former high school quarterback was much-maligned by Longhorns fans throughout his career for giving up big plays at safety and often failing to demonstrate much physicality as a tackler, leading many to pine for Thompson to once again have the football in his hands offensively.
Those two tackles in November heralded a new Thompson, however, one who had finally become a true football player, not just an track athlete on the gridiron.
Thompson didn't manage to set his career high in tackles as a senior, as his 69 stops came up two short of the mark he set as a junior, but spending time playing cornerback helped cause that decrease. After finally deciding to wear contacts midway through the year, Thompson averaged seven tackles per game over the last seven games and came up with his second career interception against Texas Tech.
Here are his Texas Pro Timing Day results:
| 40 time | Vert | Broad jump | Short shuttle | 3-cone | Bench |
| 4.48 seconds | 36 inches | 10 feet 9 inches | 4.45 seconds | 6.89 seconds | 18 reps |
Out of high school, Thompson was a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 180 prospect, the No. 15 athlete, and the No. 25 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. A running quarterback at San Antonio Stevens, Thompson rushed for nearly 3,000 yards in high school and scored 40 rushing touchdowns.
| Year | G/GS | TT (Solo) | TFL | Sacks | INT | QBP | PBU | FF | FR | High |
| 2011 | 13/0 | 13 (7) | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4/TT |
| 2012 | 13/6 | 59 (31) | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12/2x |
| 2013 | 13/12 | 72 (39) | 2-4 | 0.5-3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8/2x |
| 2014 | 13/13 | 69 (48) | 4-9 | 0.5-5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11/ISU |
| Career | 52/31 | 213 (125) | 7-14 | 1.0-8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12/2x |
Strengths
- Tackling -- Thompson became a physical presence as a tackler during his senior season, improving in his willingness and technique.
- Versatility -- As a senior, the San Antonio product played both safety and cornerback at a competent level, including nickel corner, a position he wouldn't have been able to handle in the past because of its need for physicality.
- Straight-line speed -- The strong vertical leap in March backs up the sub-4.5 40-yard dash from Thompson, exactly the type of recovery speed needed for cornerbacks.
Weaknesses
- Tweener frame -- Thompson is tall for a cornerback at 6'0.5, but his relatively thin frame makes him small for a safety in the NFL.
- Lack of playmaking -- With only two interceptions and two forced fumbles in his career, Thompson failed to consistently create the type of momentum-changing plays that scouts want to see from NFL prospects.
- Fluidity -- When compared to teammate Quandre Diggs at the Texas Pro Timing Day, Thompson wasn't nearly as efficient in flipping his hips to turn in coverage and lost speed while doing so, raising questions about his ability to play cornerback at the next level.
- Takes poor angles -- Though it didn't happen nearly as much as a senior, Thompson gave up numerous big plays early in his career because he didn't take conservative-enough angles to the football in pass coverage.
Draft projection -- Undrafted free agent
Thompson faces a difficult task to even end up on a practice squad, as he's rated as the No. 664 prospect overall by NFLDraftScout.com.