Draft Dreamer: Landon Jackson

The new league year has rolled over, and this is the chance for all teams to reset and for fans to renew their hopes. First will be free agency and then onto the draft, so if you have followed my work, then you know this is my favorite time of year and it’s never too early to start breaking down NFL Draft prospects. This class is packed with players that will make an impact at the next level. I will cover each one of them from the big dudes in the trenches to the erasers patrolling the secondary. For my next Draft Dreamer, I want to focus on EDGE Landon Jackson who played for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Background

Landon Jackson was a four-star recruit at EDGE for the Pleasant Grove Hawks in Texarkana, Texas. During his time with the Hawks he played a variety of EDGE spots, including off-ball, stand-up, and traditional edge positions. As a freshman, Jackson was named Texas District 7-4A-II Defensive Newcomer of the Year and helped lead Pleasant Grove (16-0) to a state championship. He finished his freshman season with 98 total tackles, 16 TFLs, 11½ sacks, 23 QB hits, three forced fumbles, one interception, and six PBUs.

He would follow that up as a sophomore, being named unanimous first-team all-district selection.  As a junior, he was named the Texas Sports Writers Association 4A Defensive Player of the Year, and MaxPreps 1st-Team All-American as he helped Pleasant Grove to a Texas 4A D-II state championship (his 2nd State Title). Jackson finished with 111 total tackles, 28 TFLs, and 17 sacks. His senior year was canceled due to the Covid pandemic racked up over but he racked up 45 sacks in his high school career.

Jackson was ranked by 247 Sports Composite as the 125th player overall nationally, 8th EDGE, and 19th best player in the state of Texas in the 21” class. With a total of 28 offers in hand, he chose the LSU Tigers over Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida State, Tennessee, and among others. Jackson would enroll early but would miss the spring work with an injury, before returning just before the start of the season. He would play in five games for LSU with no recordable stats.

Looking for more playtime, Jackson would transfer to the University of Arkansas where we would see him develop into the star we see today. As a sophomore for the Razorbacks, he would play in 13 games, making seven starts, with totals of 23 tackles, 9 solo stops, 39.1% solo rate, 3½ TFLs, three sacks, one forced fumble, one interception, two PBUs, and one blocked kick. Jackson showed enough to become a full-time starter for the next two seasons.

As a junior Jackson would earn All-SEC 1st Team honors from the coaches and 2nd Team honors from the Associated Press. Jackson would play and start all 12 games for the Razorbacks, recording 44 total tackles, 22 solo stops, 50% solo rate, 13½ TFLs, 6½ sacks, and one PBU. He would finish in the Top 15 in the SEC in both TFLs (6th) and sacks (12th). He posted a career day at Alabama (Oct. 14) making a career-high 11 tackles to go with a career-best 3.5 sacks to earn SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week and Bednarik Award Player of the Week.

He would kick off his senior year by being named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, and Lombardi Award preseason watch list. Jackson played and started 12 games for Arkansas with a season box score of 49 total tackles, 27 solo stops, 55.1% solo rate, 9½ TFLs, 6½ sacks, one forced fumble, and three PBUs. Jackson would finish his collegiate career with 42 games played, 29 starts, 116 total tackles, 58 solo stops, 50% solo rate, 26½ TFLs, 16 sacks, two forced fumbles, five PBUs, and two blocked kicks.

Player Breakdown

The first thing that stands out about Jackson when you begin your draft breakdown, is his height (6’6”) and length (82”). That length instantly forces offensive linemen to be quick when locking on and gives Jackson a larger tackle radius than most. His power-to-length combination allows him to stay out of phone booth situations. Jackson’s speed (4.68 sec) while isn’t elite, does pair well with his power and length. He has very good explosiveness (40½” vert & 10’9” broad) but is better suited as a standup OLB than a hand-in dirt defensive end. I would like to see him more of a factor as far as getting his hands up in passing lanes but was never really asked to do that in college. Jackson plays with a high motor and will push it to the whistle. He has good pursuit traits and will fight through multiple blocks.

Jackson understands how and when to use leverage to his advantage. Uses the bull rush primarily but has a wicked cross-chop move and knows how to set up counters, but that’s something (counters) that he needs to expand and polish up. He has more power than finesse moves but NFL coaching can help with both (counters & finesse). Jackson is also more of a straight-line defender than a quick-change type of player. As I mentioned Jackson has a lot of length but he’s not a bend or dip-and-rip option. He can play on multiple fronts but he’s a better fit when playing out wide. He’s going to be a factor on special teams where (again) his length will be something teams will have to watch for. Jackson plays physically against the run and his hustle will keep in plays more often than not.

NFL & Fantasy Projection

When it comes to trying to project Jackson’s NFL value, it’s tough! He’s a player that is good at a lot of things, but not great at any. With that in mind teams will believe that with his size and length, they can turn him into a star. I don’t doubt that they can, but patience is going to be the key, as it won’t happen overnight. There’s plenty to work with and develop but he needs to land in the right situation. I don’t expect him to be a star but I do see a player that can be a routine 8-10 sack type of player and if the team that drafts him can get his length more involved in passing lanes, I give his value a bump. The fact that this is a deep EDGE class hurts his value some and I would expect him to be a late day two/early day three selection.

For IDP fantasy, the landing spot will be everything for Jackson’s value. Just like in the NFL, you’ll either love the potential with Jackson or you won’t. Patience seems to be the keyword in my evaluations this year, but it’s noteworthy. His versatility and effort will be intriguing and value that how you want. My suggestion is don’t expect more than his floor provides and that’s not a knock on him. There are plenty of high-floor players who have won a lot of games for fantasy managers. The deeper the league the better and his best value will hopefully see him get listed as a DE in the NFL. Remember it’s a deep EDGE draft class so there is no need to reach for Jackson.

Thanks for reading my article. I am a member of the FSWA (Fantasy Sports Writers of America). Follow me on Twitter at @HollywoodTitan, on Facebook on my IDPNation page, on Reddit in the fantasy football IDP sub — I’m user KingTitan1 — and tune in each week and listen to IDP Nation and Devy IDP Grind, the podcasts that I co-host, on several different platforms. Feel free to email or dm me with any questions that you have, as I’m always glad to help fellow IDPers. #IDPNation #IDP #IDPDevy