Transfer portal: Former Notre Dame wide receiver Jayden Thomas commits to Virginia
For the second consecutive offseason, a former Notre Dame wide receiver has committed to Virginia. This time it’s Jayden Thomas, following in the footsteps of Chris Tyree a year ago.
Thomas entered the transfer portal last week on Jan. 22, two days after the Notre Dame season ended just short of a national championship with a 34-23 loss to Ohio State in Atlanta. He’s already got his new destination five days after that.
Like Tyree, Thomas stayed at Notre Dame for a full four seasons and is leaving South Bend as a graduate with one year of eligiblity remaining. This past season, Thomas caught 18 passes for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns in 16 games.
For his career, he’s leaving Notre Dame with 64 receptions, 823 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.
Thomas’ best moment in blue and gold came about a week ago when he caught a touchdown pass in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish beat the Indiana Hoosiers, 27-17, in the first of three playoff wins.
The Irish also knocked off Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Thomas did not record a catch in either of those games, and he was held without a reception in the national championship game against Ohio State as well.
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Ironically, Notre Dame is welcoming a boundary receiver from Virginia in the same transfer portal cycle. The Fighting Irish received a December transfer portal commitment from five-year wideout Malachi Fields. In 36 games at UVA, Fields caught 129 passes for 1,849 yards and 11 touchdowns.
There isn’t another player at his position on the 2025 Notre Dame roster with those kinds of numbers. There wasn’t a player on the 2024 Notre Dame roster with those kinds of numbers, either, for that matter. Fields brings to Notre Dame a frame and skillset that’ll make it easier for an inexperienced quarterback, whoever it may be, to assimilate.
Thomas, meanwhile, is one of just six former Fighting Irish players on scholarship who entered the transfer portal in the allotted five days after the national title game. He joined fellow wide receiver Deion Colzie and offensive linemen Pat Coogan, Rocco Spindler, Sam Pendleton and Ty Chan in that camp. Of those players, Pendleton and Chan have chosen their new schools. The former is headed to Tennessee and the latter is going to UConn.
