Once you hit the middle to late rounds, you often look like players that need some work, but have moldable traits that great coaching can bring to the fore.
And Jets 2026 4th-round pick, defensive tackle Darrell Jackson, has moldable traits through the roof – he’s 6-5, 315 (and not fat), the wingspan of an aircraft carrier, and a great motor.
The Jets’ run defense up the middle last year wasn’t ideal. Hence, the team’s personnel department was on a mission this offseason to add massive, athletic defensive tackles to plug up the middle – first veteran additions T’Vondre Sweat and David Onyemata, and now Jackson.
“We got huge men to play for us,” said Jets coach Aaron Glenn, “And you probably have heard me say — ‘mass kicks ass.'”
“He’s an enormous, strong, physical man,” said Jets GM Darren Mougey on Jackson.
The Florida State product via Maryland and Miami really helped himself in the pre-draft all-star games, which improved his stock.
“His off-season run-up to the draft was a good one for him,” said college football analyst Charles Davis. “For some guys, it’s vital, that run up. The East-West game, the Senior Bowl, I thought that was very good for Darrell Jackson.”
Jackson’s great motor was on display every step of the pre-draft process, busting his butt trying to move himself up draft boards.
“I was just grinding through it, through the pre-draft process, you know, just going to all the all-star games and practicing and just competing,” Jackson said.
The Jets are banking on their talented defensive line coach, Karl Dunbar, tapping into the raw skills of this unique talent.
“Jackson’s size and length could be considered unmined gold by some teams,” wrote NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein.
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