Get to Know Your Orange Man: #27, LB Stefon Thompson

Name: Stefon Thompson

Position: Linebacker

Year: Freshman

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 235 lbs

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

High School: Julius L. Chambers

2020 stats: Racked up 35 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks on the year, with a forced fumble to his name. He started the season opener as a true freshman and got the nod in seven of the ten games he featured in his freshman year. He also got freshman All-American nods from FWAA.

2021 projections: He was the starter last year. I don’t see that changing. That said, it’s a rotating group platooning the linebacker corps, keeping bodies fresh. He made an impression last year and should continue to be one of the top producing linebackers on the team this season.

How’d he get here?: Wisconsin was his other P5 offer, which he spurned to join the Orange, which is nice. He also had looks from Coastal Carolina, Charlotte, App State, Colorado State, Liberty, Marshall, and others.

What’d recruiting sites say?: Three stars across the board.

Money quote: A couple of words from Thompson when speaking to 247sports.com’s Mike McAllister about his commitment:

“I picked Syracuse because it felt like home,” Thompson said. “I know I can develop as a player and become a great person there.

Twitter feed: @S_Thompson000

Tweets of wonder: Some acknowledgement from the team on the AA nod.

What movie would Dino recommend for him?: He’s a football player, it seems fitting that Friday Night Lights would be tied into these movie recs at some point. Since the 2014 movie starred the late Lee Thompson Young, it seems like now is as good a time as any to put it on the list.

Interesting nugget o’interest: Continuing my Olympic theme in these, the Charlotte native shares a hometown with these current Olympians:

• Evy Leibfarth - Kayak and Canoe Slalom
• Michal Smolen - American Canoe
• Quanera Hayes - 400m sprint
• Caine Wilkes - Weightlifting
• Hannah Aspden - 50m, 100m, and 400m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 200m IM
• Naya Tapper - Rugby 7’s
• Anna Cockrell - 400m hurdles
• Gabrielle Cunningham - 100m hurdles
• Erika Brown - 100m freestyle

Let’s get a look at ya: This is better than Hudl.