Tennessee safety Jakobe Thomas is entering the transfer portal ahead of his senior season, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Thursday afternoon.
Thomas was the Vols’ third safety a season ago where he totaled 22 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and two pass deflections. With Will Brooks graduating after last season, Thomas was poised to step up into a starting spot this fall along with Andre Turrentine.
The junior safety, played in all 13 games last season and totaled 263 snaps earning a 68.5 PFF grade. Thomas had the second best PFF grade amongst Tennessee safeties coming in behind Brooks. Cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson were the only other Tennessee defensive backs who earned a better grade than Thomas.
A Tullahoma native, Thomas spent just one season playing for the home state Vols after spending the first two years of his college career at MTSU. He’s now back in the portal looking for a new home after entering the transfer portal on Thursday.
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Thomas’ departure is magnified by Tennessee also losing backup safeties Christian Charles and John Slaughter to the portal earlier this spring. The Vols’ remaining safeties include Turrentine, Jourdan Thomas, Edrees Farooq and a handful of freshman options.
Farooq flashed at times as a freshman and could step up into a starting job. Thomas was in line to start at STAR for Tennessee last season before tearing his ACL during preseason practice. He has previous playing experience at safety and could move back to the spot this season.
Heupel and his staff could also look to add a safety in the transfer portal. They’ve previously targeted defensive tackles and receivers hard in the portal as they look to shore up their roster ahead of summer workouts and fall camp.
