Report: Tennessee defensive back Jourdan Thomas out for the season with a knee injury

Tough blow.

The Tennessee Volunteers will be without a key piece of the secondary for the entire 2024 season, according to a report from Austin Price at Volquest. Price reports that Thomas suffered a knee injury on Saturday and will require surgery, ending his season before it even started.

Thomas was the likely starter at STAR (nickel) in Tennessee’s new-look secondary.

Thomas played quite a bit during the second half of last season, filling in after a couple of injuries. Now with all starters and and handful of depth piece hitting the transfer portal or seeing their eligibility expire, Thomas was the natural thought to be next in line.

Thomas, a junior, is a part of the team’s leadership council. He’ll go through a lengthy rehab process now and should still have two years of eligibility going forward once he returns.

So now what? Well, it would appear true freshman Boo Carter is the favorite to take over the STAR position going forward. It’s a lot of responsibility for a true freshman, but the former four-star prospect has made a lot of noise in camp, dating back to the spring.

Building depth behind Carter will be key, now with a man down on the depth chart. Names like Will Brooks, Christian Harrison, Christian Charles and John Slaughter could now see some cross-training at the position. It will be interesting to see how Tim Banks and Willie Martinez go about building that depth.