Florida State lands former Tennessee DE Jayson Jenkins

Florida State took another step toward rebuilding its defensive front for 2025 on Saturday by landing Tennessee defensive line transfer Jayson Jenkins.

The pass-rusher’s NIL agents confirmed the commitment to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Jenkins, who played defensive end for three years at Tennessee, committed to the Seminoles after visiting this week. He becomes the fourth defensive end transfer to commit to Florida State this cycle, joining James Williams of Nebraska, Deante McCray of Western Kentucky and Deamontae Diggs of Coastal Carolina.

Defensive end is a major area of need for Florida State following the departures of starting ends Patrick Payton and Marvin Jones Jr. to the transfer portal.

Jenkins didn’t rack up major statistics during his time at Tennessee — he was credited this past season with nine tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble — but he brings very good size at 6-foot-6 and 281 pounds.

The New Jersey native was a redshirt sophomore in 2024, so he has two years of eligibility remaining.

To land Jenkins, Florida State had to beat out the likes of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia Tech. Even with four defensive end transfers on board, the Seminoles would like to add one more before the start of the spring semester.

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