Coach: NC State is getting a hard worker in Daejuan Thompson

When 2022 three-star athlete Daejuan Thompson committed to NC State last Tuesday, it was an eventful evening for the Wolfpack recruiting staff.

Thompson’s announcement arrived less than 30 minutes after four-star linebacker Torren Wright became the Pack’s fourth commitment of its rapidly growing 2022 class.

In the same afternoon, NC State landed two key pieces for the future of its linebackers room.

Thompson, a 6-3, 185-pounder that is ranked No. 25 overall in the state of North Carolina according to Rivals, is listed as an athlete but was recruited by the Wolfpack as an outside linebacker.

That’s not the only area the product of Whiteville (N.C.) High is capable of producing. A versatile playmaker, Thompson has gained experience at the high school level on defense as a linebacker, on offense as a receiver and on special teams as a kick returner.

“On the field for us, he plays that outside linebacker spot,” Whiteville High head football coach Jarrett Price said. “He's also big on our kickoff team and as you see on his tape, he's a very physical kid. A couple of weeks ago, somebody asked him what he liked about football, and he told him he liked hitting.

“Last year, we also used him at receiver and he's going to play receiver for us this year too because we graduated an H-Back receiver that went on to play at Campbell. He's got a lot of roles that he fills for us on our team.”

His strength, however, is as an outside linebacker, where he’s proven to equally talented in pass coverage as he is at penetrating the backfield.

“He's got a motor,” Price said. “Watching his tape, you won't catch him during the whole game tape taking a play off. He's so quick off the ball. As quick off the ball as he was for a tackle, guard or back to get a hand on him, he had maybe one offsides penalty all year, which speaks volumes for the quickness that he has coming off that edge."