JaCorey Thomas has rarely been a marquee name in his time in Athens. He was the No. 311 overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting cycle according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Georgia landed Malaki Starks in that same cycle, who was the No. 19 player in the class.

The presence of Starks is in part why Thomas is still an unknown entity entering his senior season. In three years, Thomas has just 18 career tackles and 2 pass breakups.

Thomas made his first career start against Clemson last fall, only for Dan Jackson, KJ Bolden and Starks to take most of the safety reps after that. Jackson and Starks are in the NFL, but Georgia added three transfer portal defensive backs this offseason.

But while there are plenty of reasons to be excited about what Adrian Maddox, Zion Branch and Jaden Harris bring to the Georgia team, Thomas should not be overlooked.

“It’s always been competition. We always bring good guys in, lose good guys, so that’s always a claw fight when we get in a safety room,” Thomas said this spring.

Thomas has never shied away from a battle. It’s a big reason Georgia liked him so much during the recruiting process.

It’s also why Thomas stayed at Georgia, even with the allure of the transfer portal. Former Georgia safety Chris Peal exited the program this spring, as he is now at Syracuse.

Thomas, entering his final season at Georgia, understands the value in remaining with the program that first signed him.

“Every safety that stayed here is going to the league or in the league right now, so I guess that was the biggest factor for me,” Thomas said. “Stick it through, get your role, go out there and play, and you’ll probably be out of there.”

Thomas’ role has expanded throughout his time in Athens, as he now has the ability to play either the star and safety position for the Bulldogs.

Entering the 2025 season, Thomas is viewed as one of Georgia’s starting safeties, even with the new additions. Bolden returns and will be viewed as a key piece in the defensive backfield.

Joenel Aguero is likely to step in as the team’s full-time star, after splitting time with Starks a season ago. Thomas’ start against Clemson last season came in place of an injured Aguero.

It was expected last year that Starks and Bolden would be Georgia’s two starting safeties. But Dan Jackson leaned on his veteran experience in the Georgia program to become a critical piece of the defense.

While Thomas may not rise to the cult-figure status that Jackson did, there’s reason to believe he can be a very important, versatile piece in the Georgia defense.

“Having JaCorey in the secondary, it’s good, because he’s playing the role Malaki did last year,” cornerback Demello Jones said. “So he’s like, I won’t say leading the secondary, but he’s more experienced and knows a lot of the technical stuff when it comes to us playing all together.”

Georgia’s secondary could be a real strength this season. Unlike the defensive front, it has plenty of experienced bodies. In addition to Thomas, cornerback Daylen Everette is also in his fourth season at Georgia.

Maddox played significant snaps last season at UAB, while Harris did so for Miami. Maddox is most likely going to work at the star position, while Harris will bounce between the two. Branch has more physical upside than the other two transfers but he has battled injuries to this point in his career.

“We need big guys to come down and hit, so, yeah, the more depth, the more better,” Thomas said of Branch.

Given the influx of competition, Thomas knows he will have to raise his game to an even higher level in 2025.

The possibility to at last emerge as an every-down contributor for the Bulldogs excites one of Georgia’s most overlooked players.