School: Ohio State
Year: Sr
Position: IOL
Positional Flexibility: Left Guard with Tackle flexibility

Physical Attributes

• Height: 6-4
• Weight: 320
• RAS: 8.99
• Bench Press: 32

Rankings

• Joe’s Ranking: 6.4
• Consensus Position Rank: 3
• My Position Ranking: 5
• Difference in Ranking: -2
• Tier: 3
• Projected Round: 3

Games Watched

• Penn State ’24
• Oregon ’24

Ryan’s Notes

Positives

• As a tackle he has springy light footwork and a fairly fast read helped him get to a tough blitz pickup all the way to his right after setting left which he got to with a big hand to knock the linebacker off balance.
• As a guard he uses his weight well on dirty blocks where it’s just about driving a man off his spot but has a tendency to dive on these, meaning an inefficient power transfer to the block.
• Chip Kelly’s offense is far away from pro style so pure run sets are rare but when he does get the chance you can see his base run block technique is sound, he has a stable knee bend and keeps his elbows tight and he works up and through the centermass of his opponent.

Negatives

• His lateral agility is okay but he’s often playing catch up instead of cutting off on zone blocks, he does get his hands in good positions to steer when he eventually does get to the blocking point.
• His pad level is pretty good and he does vary techniques slightly but not enough to impress, you still get stuck on the fact he is just used to being bigger than everyone else.
• Donovan has a long kick step action that can cover decent ground when aligned at tackle but it leaves him with an awkward second move where he has to tuck his hip in tight and underneath so his next set of steps is slow to come and goes against his momentum making him lose balance control, he will get undone by speed rushers if left out on the edge.

Ryan’s Summary

Jackson has guard and tackle flexibility but he struggles in true pass sets so I think his projection inside is the right one. Lineman are hard to judge in systems as far from a pro one as this but his game tape against Oregon showed he’s competent guard but not one I’d be rushing to take in the first two rounds as he has gaps in his game. His base run block is solid and he has the requisite awareness to pick up stunts but his average agility and tendency to lean into his blocks limits his run game upside.