Through the first 15 games of his career at Auburn, Perry Thompson had been mostly quiet, catching a total of seven passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Out of those yards, 116 had come in two games in 2024, blowout victories over Alabama A&M and New Mexico when the game was never in doubt.
It seemed that the former 4-star wide receiver had gotten lost in the mix yet again to start his sophomore season, having just two receptions for 11 yards through the first five games.
Whether it was the loss of Horatio Fields or a light bulb finally came on for Thompson, he has finally made an impact in the Tigers' last two games, including four catches for 60 yards in the overtime loss to Missouri this past Saturday.
His head coach, Hugh Freeze, couldn't be happier for the young player.
“I’m really proud of him," he said. "The guy, truthfully, when he got here, had no idea how to practice. The talent was there. He knew how to run a go route, but he didn’t know how to take a release off of anything or what different coverages looked like."
As Freeze pointed out, Thompson wasn't the only member of the Freeze Four who arrived on the Plains unaware of what it took to be a SEC-caliber receiver. The coach pointed out Malcolm Simmons and, to a lesser extent, Cam Coleman as two guys who had to learn how to practice.
Freeze praised his coaching staff for not giving up on Thompson despite the early struggles.
"You have to give Marcus (Davis) and Coach (Maurice) Harris and Heath (Dedeaux), those guys who work with him every single day, a lot of credit," he said. "Nobody was more bothered on the sideline than him after he dropped that one on the second or third possession, and I love to see that. He’s just getting better and better every single day. I have to remind myself that we’re playing these top teams very tough, but we’re still fairly young at some spot. He’s still a young kid, but I’m really excited to see his development.”