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Positives: Has a well-built frame with good upper-body muscle development, defined chest, wide back, good shoulder width, tight abdomen, good bubble and defined calves and thighs … Lacks the timed speed to play cornerback at the next level, but compensates with an explosive closing burst on plays in front of him, making a potential move to free safety at the next level possible … Plays at a high intensity level and gives second effort when beaten on the play … Shows very good timing breaking up the pass, but does not seem to have the natural hands to make the interception (more deflections could have been pass thefts, as he lacks ideal hand size) … It is very rare to see him throttle down, as he likes to be involved in the action, even if he has to run long distances to get their … Classic "good guy" who has been an excellent mentor for the team's younger players … The LSU staff feels he could make a solid coaching candidate when his playing days are over … Gets a good jump on the ball, thanks to his initial reads … Alert to blocking schemes and knows how to slip under and avoid blocks to get backfield pressure … Has very good zone awareness, handling the switch-off smoothly, another reason to make him a free safety at the next level … Has a good feel and anticipation when reading routes, putting himself in good position to make the play … Smart player who might lack the feet to reroute, but uses his hands efficiently to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage … Has the ability to run step-for-step with tight ends and slot receivers, but will sometimes lose sight of the receiver in long patterns … Has a good feel when jumping routes and, while he has some stiffness in his hips in transition, he somehow manages to get his hands up to break up passes … Adequate making the lateral cut, but shows good balance getting pass depth … Even with his slight hitch in transition, he can come out of his pedal with good timing … Has the initial burst to compete for jump balls and make plays on activity in front of him … Can locate and pick up secondary targets playing the zone and takes good angles to close on the ball in flight … Might not win many footraces, but his ability to take angles and gain position helps him in his recovery … Takes good angles coming out of his breaks and is able to adjust to movement when he keeps his pads down … Makes good body adjustments to track the ball … Doesn't hesitate to come up and support vs. the run and will stick his hat into the pile to make a play … Very good at staying low in his pads and squaring his shoulders to neutralize the lead blocker in attempts to clog the rushing lanes … When he comes downhill, he takes good angles to maintain leverage and has the size and toughness, along with good hand strength to compete with blockers in the box … Solid contact seeker and wrap-up tackler who can generate pop on contact … Even when he cut tackles, he puts enough power behind it to be effective.
Negatives: Has poor timed speed for a cornerback and he might need to bulk up and shift to free safety at the next level … Has good ball skills, but appears to be stiff in his hips trying to break cleanly out of his backpedal (does show the explosive burst to close on the ball) … Better playing in the short-to-intermediate area, as his stiff hips could see the speedier receivers get behind him on deep routes (very good at using his hands to reroute and was successful in doing so 40 times on 82 passes targeted into his area as a senior) … Can press at the line of scrimmage, but if a receiver escapes, he doesn't have that blazing speed to recover … Does a good job making his initial read, but earlier in his career, he tended to eyeball the quarterback too long … Not fluid in his plant-and-drive and will sometimes take false steps in transition … Has to time the pass a little better, as he gets several pass interference calls by reacting too quickly and attacking the receiver before the ball gets from the quarterback to the target (has good arm reach, but will get into trouble trying to stretch over and around the receiver to break up the play) … Showed in 2006 that he does not have the ball skills or instincts to handle punt returns (will call for the fair catch regularly) … Has good tracking skills, but lacks natural hands trying to make the interception (more than a fair share of his deflections should have been picked off).
Compares To: GARY BAXTER-Cleveland … Baxter has been out of action the last two years due to injuries, but few cornerbacks with 4.6 have experienced the success Baxter did, mostly in Baltimore. Jackson might be wise to bulk up and shift to free safety, as he is good at rerouting receivers and can handle short-to-intermediate action with no problems. He is very aggressive in run support, making that another reason to consider a position change. The greatest issue, however, is Jackson's lack of deep speed. If a receiver gets behind him, he does not have the quickness or recovery speed needed to catch up.
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