Tennessee’s safety room is suddenly now an issue.
And we have a third Tennessee safety hitting the transfer portal — Jakobe Thomas. The veteran defensive back will exit the program after spending just one season in Knoxville, coming in from MTSU last season.
Tennessee safety Jakobe Thomas is entering the NCAA transfer portal, per @EugeneTLee of @3strandsports. Thomas played last season at Tennessee and has one year of eligibility remaining. He started his career at Middle Tennessee State. pic.twitter.com/V4ElDrNwvp
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 24, 2025
Thomas appeared in all of Tennessee’s 13 games last season, playing in a safety rotation. The big-hitting safety tallied 22 tackles and was credited with two pass breakups.
Thomas joins John Slaughter and Christian Charles in the transfer portal, officially giving Tennessee a numbers issue to solve over the next few weeks. The Volunteers are left with very little safety experience on the roster outside of returning starter Andre Turrentine. Will Brooks used up the remainder of his eligibility last season.
Tennessee returns sophomore Edrees Farooq is the lone returning safety outside of Turrentine. Tennessee will have to either move someone over like a Kaleb Beasley or even a Jourdan Thomas, assuming he can return healthy. They’ll also very likely look to the portal to add some depth and experience to a group that suddenly needs it.
So following the moves made over the last ten days or so, Tennessee is left with depth needs a defensive tackle, safety and wide receiver. The Volunteers will host a few options at defensive line and receiver this weekend. We’ll see if anything gets done.