Jaylen Thomas holds the NT · Backup spot in West Virginia Mountaineers’s defensive tackle room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Jaylen Thomas is a nose tackle from Memphis, Tennessee, who attended White Station High School before playing two seasons at Northwest Mississippi Community College. As a freshman in 2024, he appeared in eight games and recorded eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks while helping the Rangers to a 10-2 record and MACCC Championship. In 2025, Thomas earned NJCAA DI All-American Honorable-Mention Defense honors and MACCC North Division Defensive Player of the Year as Northwest Mississippi went 10-1 and reached the national semifinals. He finished that season with 18 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Thomas now joins West Virginia as a junior transfer.