As Ja’Kobi Lane might agree, Lincoln Riley’s offseason is already off to a controversial start in the most unconventional of ways. Locker room tensions appear to be at an all-time high, with a star wide receiver making accusations against other players. Those accusations were incorrect, it seems.
According to a report by College Transfer Portal on Monday on X, freshman offensive lineman Esun Tafa took items from wide receiver Lane, who had already accused 3-star recruit Brawley Tuitupou of taking his items out of his locker.
Instead, it turned out that the offensive lineman took the items and gave them to Tuitupou, setting him up either intentionally or unintentionally to take heat. It is unclear whether the items were mistakenly taken or intentionally stolen, but based on Lane’s reaction, they were not left in a way that could be easily mistaken.
In a public accusation posted on X on Monday, Lane posted the Instagram account of Tuitupou with a picture of the items. The picture included socks, gloves and cleats.
“This kid stole my cleats and a bunch of stuff from the sc locker room,” Lane posted. “All yall kids out there just know this is simply unacceptable.”
At the time of writing, Lane has not posted about Tuitupou’s alleged involvement or the possibility that Tafa was allowed to use the items, which were then handed off to Tuitupou. There’s plenty of smoke, but the full picture appears to be unknown at this time.
Ja’Kobi Lane Accusations Raise Questions Ahead In Buildup to NFL Draft
Of course, while thievery is never something to be taken lightly, Ja’Kobi Lane’s choice to publicly air (potentially literally) dirty laundry about locker room problems raises questions for NFL teams considering the wide receiver.
According to Yahoo Sports in a Dec. 16 report, Lane has declared his intention to join the NFL in April, along with various other college players.
Lane earned 745 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. In his other notable season, he earned 525 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2024. In 2023, the wide receiver earned 93 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman.
With his college career ending on a sour note, Lane may face questions about how he handled the situation and whether he would air more dirty laundry publicly if a similar disagreement were to happen in 2026 at his next team.
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