Stampeding Through the 2025 USF Football Roster: #12 S Jabari Smith
This incoming freshman has been locked in with the Bulls for a while.
PLAYER: Jabari Smith
POSITION: Safety
YEAR: Freshman
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 5'11", 170 lbs.
HOW DID HE GET HERE? Smith is quite the athlete. He played both defensive back and receiver at Wekiva High School in Opopka, Florida, and ran track in the offseason. USF was his first offer, and he rewarded them by committing early in his junior season, all the way back in October of 2023. Despite offers from Georgia Tech, FAU, Coastal Carolina and Western Kentucky, he stayed locked in throughout his high school career, and signed with the Bulls in December 2024. He was one of a few incoming freshmen practicing with the Bulls during Hawaii Bowl preparation, and enrolled the next month. The recruiting services had him rated as a mid three-star recruit.
WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT IN 2025? I’d love to see Smith get some playing time this season. He’s been committed to the Bulls for what feels like a lifetime, and it’d be awesome to see his devotion rewarded with some early snaps. That said, there are a lot of experienced bodies in the secondary, and I’m not expecting many true freshmen to see a ton of playing time there. Smith’s time with the program might give him an early leg up, but I suspect it’ll be a bit before we see him in the defensive back rotation.
When we do see him, it’ll be interesting to see what position he lines up at. He’s listed on the USF roster as a safety, so that’s presumably where the coaching staff sees him, but he played a lot of corner in high school as well. That flexibility certainly isn’t a bad thing.