Bryan Thompson (born April 7, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Early life and high school

Thompson grew up in

Moreno Valley, California Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's p ...

and attended

Rancho Verde High School Rancho Verde High School is one of three comprehensive high schools in the Val Verde Unified School District. The school is situated on 38 acres in the southern section of Moreno Valley, California. Rancho Verde represents a community of diverse ...

where he lettered in football and track & field. In his high school career, Thompson completed 135 receptions for 2,636 yards and 27 touchdowns. Thompson was a three-star ranked recruit and would decide to commit to play college football at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

over offers from Nebraska, Oregon, Boise State, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Indiana, Oregon State, UNLV, Washington and Washington State.

College career

Utah

During Thompson's true freshman season in 2017, he played in 12 games and started one of them against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. He finished the season with five receptions for 77 yards with an average of 15.4 yards per catch. During the 2018 season, he played in only four games due to him battling injuries. He made one catch for 31 yards in the 2018 Holiday Bowl against Northwestern. During the 2019 season, he appeared in 12 games and started nine of them. He finished the season with being second on the team in terms of receiving yards with 18 catches for 461 yards and three touchdowns with an average of 25.6 yards per catch. During the 2020 season, he played in all five games and started two of them. He finished the season with nine receptions for 187 yards with one touchdown along with one rush for nine yards and a touchdown with an avergae of 20.8 yards per catch. On February 3, 2021, Thompson announced that he has entered the transfer portal. On February 18, 2021, he announced that he would be transferring to

Arizona State

During the 2021 season, Thompson appeared in 11 games and started four of them. He finished the season with 13 catches and 130 yards. During the 2022 season, he appeared in 11 games and started the last seven of them. He finished the season with 25 catches and 377 yards.

Professional career

On May 18, 2023, Thompson was signed to the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after going unselected in the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

. Thompson was released on August 29, 2023 but was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 22, 2024.

References

External links

Utah Utes bioArizona State Sun Devils bioBuffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Bryan 1999 births Living people Players of American football from California American football wide receivers Utah Utes football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Buffalo Bills players