Justin Jackson
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Justin Jackson is an agile and elusive running back that is electric when he gets into space. He could be a middle to late round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft that finds his way onto the field sooner rather than later.
The thing that pops off the tape immediately when watching Justin Jackson is the explosiveness of his cuts. He is a sudden runner that creates good distance when he puts his foot in the dirt. His agility and elusiveness in space are his best assets. He does a good job using his lateral agility to pick his way through traffic around the line of scrimmage and sets up defenders well with the ability to string together multiple cuts with fluidity. His elusiveness helps him win against defenders in space.
He’s undersized at 193 pounds, and he doesn’t offer much in the way of power, but his balance is above average. He doesn’t run through contact, but he is able to slip tackles and bounce off of contact due to his high effort running style and his low center of gravity. He isn’t going to push the pile in short yardage situations, but he shouldn’t be limited between the tackles in most situations.
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His vision is about average. He usually finds the right lane, but he doesn’t seem to anticipate well and is often too hesitant behind the line of scrimmage. It’s a fine line between patient and hesitant, but he gets caught dancing in the backfield too often. His quick burst helps make up for the time it takes for him to process what he is seeing in front of him. He needs to be more decisive and quicker to the line of scrimmage.
Justin Jackson is at his best when he is in space with the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, he has shown that he has trouble catching the football out of the backfield. A team may still try and get him the ball in this way, but he has shown on his tape that he isn’t one of the more sure-handed prospects in the 2018 NFL Draft. His explosiveness and lateral agility suggest that he could be an excellent route runner with some work, but he has to be better at catching the football than his tape indicates that he is if he has any hope of being a consistent receiving threat in the NFL.
Justin Jackson probably projects as a part of a committee at the NFL level. He has explosiveness and elusiveness that should help him see the field early, but he isn’t a well-rounded prospect and will probably never be able to carry a full workload at the NFL level. For a middle-to-late round prospect in a deep 2018 running back class, Justin Jackson looks like a player who could make an early contribution that exceeds his draft position.
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