Tennessee safety Jakobe Thomas officially entered the transfer portal on Monday, according to a report from On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos on X. The news of Thomas’s entry into the portal comes four days after ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that he had intentions of entering.
Tennessee defensive back Jakobe Thomas has officially entered the transfer portal, @On3sports has learned.
Thomas played last season at Tennessee and has one year of eligibility remaining. Started his career at Middle Tennessee State.https://t.co/VxSGJETKD9 pic.twitter.com/xHNAFMmYbE
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) April 28, 2025
Thomas will have one year of eligibility remaining. The Tennessee native played two seasons at Middle Tennessee before his junior season with the Volunteers in 2024.
Thomas appeared to be in line for a workload increase in 2025 with Will Brooks graduating, and was penciled in alongside Andre Turrentine as the starting safeties in early depth chart projections by the media. Thomas put together a nice rotational season in Knoxville in 2024 and looked to have an opportunity to grow into a true starter this fall.
The 6-foot-2 safety played in all 13 games for Tennessee last season and recorded 22 total tackles, 14 solo tackles, two pass deflections, and one sack. Thomas’s 68.5 season grade from Pro Football Focus was the second-highest among the safeties, trailing only Brooks, and fourth in the secondary behind cornerback Jermod McCoy, cornerback Rickey Gibson III, and Brooks.
Thomas was also known for laying down a few monster hits during the season.
How many times have you watched the Jakobe Thomas hit from Saturday? pic.twitter.com/HuZYZvtzkB
— More Important Issues (@More_Issues) September 24, 2024
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“Confidence,” Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez said of Thomas’s biggest jump in his second year with the program during spring camp in March. “Playing the inside positions, the safety or the Star position, you’ve got to make a lot of adjustments, a lot of communication has got to go off on you. He’s being more productive on a consistent basis in practice, which is good to see. It builds some confidence for him and also for us on the defense.”
Thomas is now the Vols’ third safety to hit the portal this spring, alongside Christian Charles and John Slaughter. With Turrentine still penciled in to return to his starting safety spot, Tennessee could turn to Edrees Farooq or Jourdan Thomas for that other spot. Jourdan Thomas will return to the field this fall after suffering a season-ending injury in the Vols’ 2024 fall training camp, and was projected to be the starter at the STAR spot in the preseason.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football offseason coverage.
