Darrell Jackson Jr.
Florida State
Scouting Report

Jackson is a human eclipse at nose tackle — 6'5", 315 pounds with 35-inch arms, 11-inch hands, and an 86-inch wingspan that makes him one of the most physically imposing interior defenders in this draft class. When he plays with leverage and gets his hands on you first, it's over: he swallows gaps whole, anchors against doubles, and keeps linebackers clean behind him in a way few college nose tackles can. The problem is that his pass rush starts and ends with a bull rush, his pad level is wildly inconsistent, and he vanishes for long stretches when his motor dies — the 2025 tape showed a sharp drop from 30 pressures to 14 with almost no counter-move development. He's an early-down run defender who needs a patient coaching staff and an odd-front scheme to maximize his value, with a floor as a quality rotational nose and a ceiling as a scheme-specific starter if he can add one pass-rush wrinkle and maintain his conditioning.

Strengths
Weaknesses
Pro ComparisonRaekwon Davis

Massive, long-armed interior defender whose NFL value is tied almost entirely to run defense and early-down gap control. Like Davis, Jackson has rare physical dimensions and raw power but limited pass-rush upside, inconsistent effort, and a floor/ceiling range that spans from rotational nose to scheme-specific starter. Steelers Depot explicitly cited Davis as the low-end comp.

Trait Grades
🚀 Pass Rush
65
🧱 Run Defense
94
⚡ First Step
73
🤚 Hand Usage
71
🔥 Motor
70
🏋️ Strength
99
College Production (2025)
TFL
1.5
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