Auburn hosted Northwestern offensive line transfer Josh Thompson Thursday.

There was a lot to like about the visit.

"It was a really impressive place," Thompson said. "One thing you're looking for in a program, especially at this point for me, a place can have pretty walls and pretty stuff, but you're really looking for good people, people who are surrounded with other good people and focused on the right things. Auburn was really impressive from that standpoint."

Thompson, 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, had spent all of his collegiate career at Northwestern before electing to hit the portal earlier this week. Auburn is his second visit, with only his trip to Michigan State preceding his visit to the Plains.

"Obviously you want to be able to live out that big college football experience," Thompson said. "Auburn certainly has that. I have some family down here, and all of them are big War Eagle people. So they were pushing for it. I've always been a fan of the place, and I'm happy I took the visit down here because, like I said, they checked the boxes I'm looking for, and it was a really special place here."

There are also some family ties to Auburn, with some family members living in state.

"You got one aunt who's all Alabama, and everyone else is War Eagle," Thompson said. "They went to school here. So the family visits, she's a minority, and the rest of them are all Auburn.

Throughout his career at Northwestern, Thompson shifted along the offensive line. He has experience at both tackle and guard, but would play wherever he's out needed.

"I've had the opportunity to play a lot of different positions, so I've developed an ideal positional versatility, so I can play outside, I can play inside," Thompson said. "Obviously it's going to be where the team fits come fall camp, but right now playing inside is probably going to be the focus. And then obviously if things happen, guys develop, roster changes happen, so wherever the fit is going to be best for the team's success, that's where I would fill in."

He has visits lined up to Ohio State, Tennessee and South Carolina later this month.