Horns247 Board

By Jeff Howe

SAN ANTONIO -- Longhorn commit Mykkele Thompson and the Stevens Falcons lost to San Antonio Wagner today during the live quarter session of their scrimmage in Converse, 14-6.

Thompson and Stevens head coach Lee Bridges said they were both not entirely pleased with the scrimmage, but the team and Mykkele did some nice things.

Thompson looks as good as ever physically. He's 6-2, 183 pounds after gaining some added muscle and even looks bigger now than he looked when Stevens played in the Red Bull 7on7 event in June. He’s a quick-twitch athlete with subtle explosiveness and he possesses high point ball skills that should translate well when he moves to defensive back.

He'll play defensive back at Texas but he won't this year for the Falcons. Bridges said they are going to use him on offense. Thompson had some nice runs in the scrimmage including a couple of 35-40 yard bursts that showed his big-play ability.

“On a few of his runs he really made some guys look silly,” Bridges said. “He was all over the place running and he did some nice things throwing the ball.”

Thompson will likely be one of the tougher recruits in the class to evaluate this season because he won't be playing the same position as a high school senior that he will at Texas. Even more so than a guy like John Harris, Thompson is flipping to the defensive side of the ball, but he appears to have what it takes to play in the secondary for the Longhorns.

He won't be near as experienced as Carrington Byndom is in the secondary but Thompson to be is the same type of young man. He’s a hard worker, a quiet leader and he’s extremely intelligent. Throw in the fact that Duane Akina loves Thompson's potential as a 6-2 corner with ball skills and you see what he'll be starting with when he gets to Austin.

Thompson's play at quarterback was solid, but Bridges admitted that he and his staff didn't game plan extensively for the scrimmage.

“It was a typical scrimmage,” Bridges said. “Most coaches don’t game plan a whole lot for these things. There were some blitzes we didn’t pick up where we’d normally have hot reads and things like that, but we felt like we got some good things done.”

Thompson’s lone big mistake was on a play where he dropped the snap and threw a pick on a play that both Bridges and Thompson said the future Longhorn shouldn't have tried to make.

“I did alright,” Thompson said. “The main thing for me take from this is now I have more things I can go back and work on. I think it was just important to get out there and see another opponent that wasn’t our own defense.”

With Thompson being in the San Antonio area, he was thrilled when he heard the news Wednesday night that Cibolo Steele running back Malcolm brown had committed to the Longhorns.

“I called him and congratulated him,” said Thompson, who said he’s known Brown since the two were sophomore and met through running track against each other. “I told him I was happy he finally did it.”

Thompson said he’s ready for Stevens’ season opener next Friday against San Antonio Roosevelt. He added that he’s ready to show off his athletic ability behind center in his first regular season game since committing to Texas.

“I love being out there because the atmosphere takes you over and everything comes to you,” Thompson said. “Once you get jitters out after that first series everything slows down and I’m looking forward to getting out there.”