James Madison safety Jacob Thomas set for pre-draft visit with Packers

Lamar Jackson will reportedly miss 6-9 weeks

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James Madison safety Jacob Thomas set for pre-draft visit with Packers

Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel · Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Thu, Apr 2, 2026 ·

2 min read

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Per NFL rules, the Green Bay Packers are allowed to host up to 30 draft-eligible players (excluding "local" prospects, such as those in the UW system or nearby regional schools such as Northern Illinois) for in-person visits. The Journal Sentinel is tracking the visits and supplying profiles based on information from sources and published reports.

GREEN BAY – In high school, Jacob Thomas was a quarterback who led his team to back-to-back state championships in Virginia.

Rather than pursue a scholarship offer from Richmond to play quarterback, he enrolled at James Madison as a walk-on and switched positions to defensive back.

He played sparingly as a freshman, but started 13 games at safety as a sophomore, playing two games at strong safety and 10 at free safety. He started the next 27 games as a junior and senior, moving to strong safety along the way.

James Madison safety Jacob Thomas tackles Oregon running back Jordan Davison.

A team captain, he had 71 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, two interceptions and seven pass breakups as a senior. He was a second-team all-Sun Belt selection in a season in which the Dukes went 12-1 and became the first team in school and Sun Belt history to play in the College Football Playoff.

James Madison lost 51-34 in the first round to Oregon.

Over four seasons, Thomas had five interceptions, 21 pass break-ups, 13 tackles for loss and one forced fumble.

He is expected to visit the Packers the week of April 6.

At 6-foot, 215 pounds, Thomas had an outstanding pro day, running the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds and the three-cone drill in an impressive 6.8 seconds. The Packers may view him as a heftier version of Evan Williams , who posted similar stats at Oregon before being drafted in the fourth round.

"Lot of people from JMU get overlooked," Thomas said after performing with teammates at his pro day. "Lot of people at the G5 [Group of Five] level get overlooked.

"For us to have a strong outing like this, hopefully it gets the eyes of a lot of teams in the NFL."