Senior Evaluation: UCF DE Commitment Keahnist Thompson

Reviewing the improvements of Lakeland High School defensive end Keahnist Thompson.

Brian Smith | Dec 12, 2021

One of the biggest recruiting wins for UCF this year, and in the program’s history, would be landing defensive end Keahnist Thompson. He’s a multi-position defensive lineman that will be able to help the Knights even as early as his freshman season. It’s also great that he’s from Polk County, just down the road from Orlando where UCF resides.

Here’s an overview of Thompson’s skills based on his senior season, as Inside The Knights saw Thompson live five times this year (three practices, two games) in addition to watching his senior film.

Out of all the players UCF will sign in the class of 2022, Thompson is probably the second most watched player behind only Apopka cornerback Nikai Martinez.

Keahnist Thompson

Vitals: 6’4”, 240 pounds

Position: Defensive End

High School: Lakeland (Fla.) High School

Recruitment: Offered by numerous programs around the country and decided on UCF over offers from Miami, Alabama, Florida, and Texas among others.

Frame

Long legs, very long arms, and his upper body could pack on another 30 or more pounds without any issue.

At one point, Thompson was up to 260-pounds, but he’s lost weight during the season. Once he’s enrolled at UCF, the Strength and Conditioning program for the Knights can help add weight to Thompson’s frame as needed.

Athleticism

Even from the time he played in the spring jamboree until now, it’s obvious that Thompson is more flexible. This is especially with his hip flexors, as he’s able to stay really low when engaging an opponent right in front of him or gain leverage by getting underneath the shoulder pads of an offensive tackle when rushing the quarterback.

Thompson’s open-field speed is also impressive. He’s very fluid for a player his size, and he changes direction well. Similarly, his quick hands and lateral quickness flash when he’s first making a move at the line of scrimmage. That was consistent all season long as well.

Here's a photo reel of Thompson:

Pass Rushing

Thompson’s best moves are based on lateral movement, a good sign for his future. He’s really quick off the snap of the football and gets his hands moving quickly in an attempt to knock down the opponent’s hands and move past him.

His first step is also very good; a low base to generate speed is part of the reason why. Some of Thompson’s sacks and even tackles for loss came from the next category.

Hustle and Effort

It just needed to be mentioned. Thompson goes hard on each play. Numerous times he went all the way across the field to chase down the ball carrier. That’s not a presumed habit for a defensive end.

He’s one of those players that even if he’s blocked by two players during a play, Thompson will continue to move towards the football. It’s fantastic to watch.

Position Fit

Thompson is one of the rare defensive ends that fits the profile of a strong side defensive end or a weak side defensive end. He’s a lean 240-pound player so there’s really no specific weight that he’s going to be. It’s basically up to him and the staff for UCF.

That also leads into moving him around, play by play, so that he can be a unique situational player, i.e. playing weak side end or strong side end depending on down and distance and the kind of offense UCF plays against within in a particular game.

All of this will take time, of course. He’s done well with technique to date, and there’s still much to learn. When moving from one position to another there needs to be an understanding of not only technique, but position assignments. Thompson is a really smart young man so he should be able to handle those tasks quite well.

Technique

He’s already really good at delivering a punch when going from speed to power and engaging an offensive tackle. He ran over several players this year because of hitting the opposition before they could even raise their hands fast enough.

Thompson also does a really good job with his slap-swim combination move, and he’s adept at staying low and running the hoop as it’s called in football jargon when he circles around an offensive tackle attempting to speed rush the quarterback.

Area to Improve

The biggest area for Thompson to improve will be adding to repertoire of pass rushing moves. He already uses a slap-swim move quite often, and now he needs to add more moves that he’s comfortable with. The more he adds and can pull out of his arsenal during a game, the more successful he will be.

Thompson also needs to just hit the weight room and get bigger, stronger, faster. That’s just part of the natural development of a college football player, however, and he is far superior to most players at his size and age right now.

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