With speed, size, Anterio Thompson has potential to be ‘something special’ for Iowa football in future

IOWA CITY — As Anterio Thompson made his way virtually untouched to the Western Michigan punter, he felt like it was in “slow motion.”

“Like in the movies,” Thompson said.

That may be the only slow thing about Thompson, the sophomore defensive lineman on the Iowa football team who transferred from Iowa Western Community College after last season.

Iowa defensive lineman Logan Lee, now in his fifth year at Iowa and third year as a starter, described Thompson as “probably a top-five athlete I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“He’s 300, and he’s one of the fastest guys,” Lee said. “He’s probably chasing down some linebackers at that point. He can move.”

Saturday’s feat itself demonstrated Thompson’s speed.

He is certainly not the only Hawkeye to block a punt recently. Lukas Van Ness, now in the NFL, had two last year against Iowa State. Deontae Craig had one against Wisconsin last year as well.

But Van Ness was listed at 240 pounds, and Craig at 266 pounds. Thompson is listed at 293 pounds.

“That was probably not the position you would figure him being opportunistic in,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said, “so that was great to see.”

Thompson almost blocked another punt earlier in the Western Michigan game in the second quarter — close enough to cause a collective gasp from the Kinnick crowd.

Others took notice of his speed during offseason workouts. The defense “quickly realized what we had,” linebacker Jay Higgins said.

“We’re like, ‘what is happening?’” Lee said retrospectively. “His conditioning was not there yet, but he could run when he wanted to.”

Thompson, Ferentz said after the Western Michigan game, is a “guy who’s really doing some good things behind the scenes.”

“I think he has a good future here,” Ferentz said.

Thompson’s Iowa career also has required some patience.

Iowa’s defensive line does not have the same depth as a year ago after Van Ness’ departure to the NFL, John Waggoner’s graduation and Noah Shannon’s yearlong gambling suspension.

But Thompson has “some great D-linemen in front of him,” as Higgins phrased it.

Lee is in his fifth year on campus and is expected to make his 31st career start this weekend. Yahya Black is in his fourth year, Jeremiah Pittman is in his third. Aaron Graves is only in his second year, but he also was the 2021-22 MaxPreps Male National Athlete of the Year.

“Talked to him last week, mentioning that Yahya Black wasn't Yahya Black three years ago,” Ferentz said. “Same with Logan Lee. Go down the line with any of the guys. But especially the interior guys, there's a real art to playing in there. It's something you learn how to do.”

Jeff Hoerner, his high school coach at Dubuque Hempstead, messages back and forth with Thompson regularly and has noticed him being “so optimistic.”

“When you get recruited that heavily and things like that, you might expect to start right away; you might get down if you’re not on the two-deeps or whatever,” Hoerner said. “I haven’t sensed that from him at all. ... He hasn’t lost confidence in himself.”

Thompson “always wanted to come to Iowa,” but he was not in a position to make that dream come to fruition when he was at Hempstead.

“Not being much of a school person in high school, I had to take the harder route of going to JUCO,” Thompson said.

Hoerner said Thompson “really matured a ton” from what he was like as an underclassman in high school.

“He was a kid that didn’t have a ton of ambition early on,” Hoerner said.

Thompson “maybe wasn’t going to put in the extra time and effort” when he was younger, Hoerner said.

“Weightlifting was not a huge priority for him early on,” Hoerner said.

Then Thompson “found that drive” ahead of his senior year and “made some great strides.”

“He knew that he wanted to play college football, and he was going to do anything he could to get there,” Hoerner said.

Hoerner gave credit to some of Thompson’s high school teammates — specifically Aidan Dunne or Zach Sabers who went on to play college sports as well — for inspiring the shift in mindset.

“The group of kids that were with him that year, I think, really convinced him like, ‘Hey man, we’re going to play college football, you’re going to go play college football, too, let’s be great our senior year,’” Hoerner said. “That’s what really changed the tide for him.”

Those weightlifting sessions Thompson did not prioritize as an underclassman? “I bet he didn’t miss a weightlifting session the summer going into his senior year,” Hoerner said.

By the time he arrived at Iowa Western, Thompson knew he “had to take school seriously.”

“I knew that it was my last chance,” Thompson said. “That was my last opportunity, and I knew I had to keep my head straight through the bad moments.”

Thompson red-shirted his first season at Iowa Western, which Hoerner believes might have been “the best thing" possible for him.

“He definitely took advantage of it,” Hoerner said. “He could have easily skipped workouts and things like that, but he didn’t. He knew what his goal was.”

Then as a redshirt freshman at Iowa Western, Thompson had 32 tackles and six sacks on a team that won a junior college national championship.

Thompson is in the midst of the adjustment process from the junior college level to the Big Ten level.

“What we're asking him to do is totally different,” Ferentz said. “Not unlike all the guys that are playing on the defensive line. We play it a little bit differently than some people. There's a learned aspect to it.”

But seeing the progression from the start of the season to Week 3, Thompson seems to be a fast learner.

“He wasn’t traveling a few weeks ago,” Lee said, “and now he’s actually getting the punt block, so that’s huge.”

It is hard to know precisely how much longer it will take to adjust to Iowa’s defense. But whenever that happens, his teammates are bullish on what he could do.

”I know he’ll be something special for us down the road,” Higgins said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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