The University of Miami has landed Tennessee safety, JaKobe Thomas, through the transfer portal. This comes just hours after On3's Pete Nakos reported a 60% confidence prediction that he would end up with the Hurricanes. Thomas is now the third transfer to Miami in as many days, and the sixth in the last week.
Miami beat out Florida State for Thomas' services. Thomas was an unranked recruit coming out of high school in the 2021 cycle. The current safeties on the roster are Markeith Williams, second-year man Dylan Day and transfer Zechariah Poyser from Jacksonville State. While Miami has been successful in the WR transfer market, the DB market has been slower to develop for the Canes.
Thomas transferred from Middle Tennessee State to Tennessee prior to the 2024 season and played a rotational role for the Volunteers, participating in 263 plays, recording 22 tackles, one sack, and two pass breakups.
At Middle Tennessee State in 2022, Thomas recorded four interceptions (one for a touchdown), three pass deflections, one fumble recovery, and 27 solo tackles. In 2023, he logged 52 solo tackles, three tackles for loss, five pass deflections, and one forced fumble.
On3 had Thomas as a top 10 available player in the transfer portal with 247sports ranking him as the No. 9 best player available. With this commitment, there have been rumors that the No. 1 player available in the portal, safety AJ Haulcy, could be slipping away.
Just a couple days after a dinner in South Beach with Rick Ross that was set up by Miami, Haulcy seems closer to LSU. The SEC may be calling for Haulcy and there have been rumors that his NIL request might be a little too high for the Hurricanes' liking. Expect Miami to stay aggressive in the defensive back market in the transfer portal.