Cincinnati Bearcats linebacker Jonathan Thompson (22) celebrates after a sack during the NCAA college football game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. This is the Bearcats last game of the season, as well as their Senior Night Saturday. Carter Skaggs/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jonathan Thompson Laser Focused on Strong Finish With Cincinnati Bearcats Football

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bearcats on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated Mar 27, 2026 5:47 PM ET

The Bearcats football team has plenty of leaders returning to the 2026 roster, including standout linebacker Jonathan Thompson. The redshirt senior star fully blossomed onto the scene in 2025, ranking second on the team with 73 tackles to go with one forced fumble, a sack, and two fumble recoveries.

He was consistent throughout the season to notch a career-best 73.5 Pro Football Focus grade on a career-high 592 defensive snaps. We caught up with Thompson after Friday's spring practice to see how he's developed his game since then and his first thoughts on Nate Woody's 3-4 blitz scheme defense.

"My main goal is just to get better at something every day, from the winter on to the season, even in the season, just getting better at something every day," Thompson told me. "The big thing is, for me, is just being a pro with the way I eat, with the way I recover, with the way I go about things in here, because as a leader, now, people are looking to me, so I want to set a good role for those guys, also become a pro. So just starting that early and building that before I can even get there, I think will be great for me. But the main goal is getting better every day at everything."

Thompson dove deep into his aim for improved coverage consistently against opposing wideouts this season, while keeping that great run defense up to speed.

"Working my footwork a lot, and my pass drops," Thompson said about how he's improving in coverage. "Yeah, I'm trying to get it to where I can bait a few quarterbacks into throwing my way, because last year I didn't get too many targets my way. So I'm just trying to get the ball in the area to where I can break on it and make a play, or I can just bait them into throwing something stupid that they don't want to throw.

"So it's just working my footwork every day, working my hips, working my top of the drop stuff, getting out of my breaks, just everything that comes with pass drop, just working on that and building on my running game stuff. Because you can get better at both."

Check out our full conversation below as Thompson keeps preparing for his final run with Cincinnati: