Nick Jackson, LB, Iowa
Size:
Height: 6’0” | Weight: 235 lbs
Accomplishments:
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2023) • Second-Team All-ACC (2022, 2021) • Third-Team All-ACC (2020)
“Nick Jackson is an experienced and tough LB prospect with the physicality needed to be a disruptive downhill defender.”
Strengths:
Strong lane-filling run defender
Short-area quickness and burst
Good coverage defender
Impact blitzer
Concerns:
Adequate athleticism
Undersized with shorter arms
Moderate play strength
Film Analysis:
Nick Jackson began his career in the ACC playing linebacker for the Virginia defense. He is well-experienced with more than 3,100 snaps on defense. Jackson is a high-motor downhill defender who attacks the line of scrimmage. He displays lateral agility and change-of-direction skills to drop into coverage functionally.
Against the run, Jackson gets downhill quickly after reading and diagnosing the play. He is a lane-filling run defender who meets both lead blockers and ball-carriers in the alleyway. He plays with good physicality to punish the lead blocker and clog the run lanes. He likes to slice through gaps on the OL and knife his way into the backfield to create disruptive pressure. Jackson has good use of hands at the point of attack to fight through blocks in the run game. He showcases functional-to-adequate athleticism from the hash to boundary (short side of the field) to track the football outside. He has plus short-area quickness and burst to close space to the football.
As a pass defender, Jackson is a solid flat defender to cover RBs and TEs. His speed is sufficient to carry some TEs vertically up the seams in man coverage. He is solid in zone coverage dropping to his spots. Jackson can flow laterally with the ability to stop and redirect to flow the opposite way. He is an impactful blitzer and gap shooter. Jackson blitzes with timeliness and tempo to allow the OL/DL to engage and attack the voids that open thereafter.
Jackson is an undersized defender with mediocre arm length. This limits his impact and playmaking ability in coverage. He has logged zero interceptions and three pass breakups in five seasons. Jackson does a solid job defeating the hands of OL climbing into the second level, but if they gain control of his pads, he is nullified. Being undersized creates issues with overpowering bigger defenders without downhill momentum to his advantage.
Jackson projects as a rotational/backup linebacker and core special teams player. Being undersized and only a functional athlete limits the opportunities given at the next level.
Prospect Projection: Day 3 — Scheme Specific Contributor
Written By: Damian Parson
Exposures: Wisconsin (2023), Purdue (2023), Michigan (2023), Penn State (2023)
