Film Breakdown: An In-Depth Look at McKinnley Jackson's Rookie Season With Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals selected McKinnley Jackson from Texas A&M University in the third round (97th overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft. Jackson is a 6’1” 326 pound defensive tackle who played in 13 games this season. Let’s dig into his inaugural season taking a look at how he played this year along with some thoughts about his future with the team:
Statistical Analysis
Jackson ended his rookie season with one sack and 15 tackles (two for loss) this season. Out of his 15 tackles, 12 of them were considered “stops,” which is a tackle made by a defender which results in a positive play for the defense.
He had eight pressures and a 6.2% pressure percentage according to NextGenStats. That’s slightly below average for defensive tackles but he’s a rookie who played a lot of snaps at nose tackle. Two of those pressures were considered quick pressures as well. His get off was measured at 1.17 which is also below average for a defensive tackle, although I think this is not due to a lack of physical ability.
Jackson’s Pro Football Focus grades by game also tell a story. His first nine games included one game with a grade of 60 or higher. He posted a 60 or higher grade in each of his final four games. It makes sense that he started his rookie year slow when he missed most of camp and the first four weeks of the season with an injury. Let’s take a look at his film to see what that says about his rookie season.
Run Defense
The first thing that needs to be discussed is how far off of the ball he will frequently line up.
He's about a half yard behind the rest of the defensive line. To find the definitive reason he does this you would need to talk to him personally, but this is a common move employed by players who do not feel comfortable with reading out the blocks in front of them. Jackson is most likely adjusting to the speed of the NFL game and because of that he is lining up off of the ball to give himself an extra fraction of a second to read the blocks in front of him.
The issue with this is that it gives the offensive line an advantage. Take this play for example:
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
The extra space gives the offensive linemen the ability to double him easier. Jackson cannot try to split this double because there’s too much room between him and the offensive line. He also cannot grab onto the center and try to get his hips into the guard as a common way to weather the double because they are close together before he makes contact.
The other problem is that Jackson’s best ability is his explosive athletic ability. By lining up further off of the ball, he is limiting his ability to explode off of the ball and make a difference on plays. Not every play will involve him trying to fire off of the ball and make a play but in those situations he’s better suited to line up as close as he can to the ball. Take this play as an example.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
In an instant, Jackson gets into the backfield on this play. He smokes the back block from the center and is able to force a fumble on the back by getting a hand on him pretty much as the ball is handed off. This is Jackson at his best but until he lines up close to the ball he’s limited on how often he can do this.
Another way he can take advantage of his athletic ability is by going backdoor on run plays.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
You can see that when he goes against the grain, he beats the guard and makes him unable to make this block. It’s then Jackson’s high motor that helps him out as he hustles down the line and makes this stop for a one-yard gain.
However, sometimes it seems as if he gambles using this explosive athletic ability.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
Jackson is playing a head up nose tackle on this play and with his first step and hand placement it seems as if he’s being asked to 2-gap the center.
He’s locking him out with both hands and looking around him to see where the ball goes. From there he then tries to rip to the front side of this run. Maybe this is by design but typically if he was going to slant to the front side A gap on this play from this front, there would be a twist called.
The linebacker would then blitz the backside A gap. Instead the linebackers are flowing with the puller and fullback. It seems as if Jackson is guessing on this play, possibly because of the pulling guard and fullback, that this is going to hit to that side. It’s a gamble to try to make a big play. Instead of making the big play, he takes himself out of the play and forces the safety to fill where he left. Kris Jenkins does a good job to make up for this as well as he gets to the back and gets a hand on him. It’s just a 5-yard gain, but gambles like this put the rest of your defense in a bad spot. If the gamble does not work out, then they have to make up for that play.
Firing off of the ball also is less effective at the goal line:
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
Jackson tries getting penetration on this play but ends up getting the guard’s shoulder in his hip. It takes him out of the play entirely and the linebackers are unable to stop the back before he runs through that vacated gap.
There are also plays where Jackson showed some ability in react attack defensive line play. On this rep he’s asked to play gap and a half and he does an excellent job.
McKinnley Jackson lock peek shed to his primary gap pic.twitter.com/0cHOtjKb6F
— mike (@bengals_sans) January 21, 2025
He locks out the left guard, finds the ball, and then sheds to make the stop. There are some minor corrections he can make here such as getting his hand down just a smidge so it’s not almost on the neck of the offensive lineman, but overall this is a very nice rep for him.
The issue for him is that his play in these scenarios and against double teams is that his anchor is worse than expected for a defensive tackle of his size.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
Here he’s asked to play gap and a half on the center and it starts out well for him. He gets his hands into him and locks him out but then the center is able to refit and get underneath Jackson's hands and win with leverage.
While plays like that are not ideal, the most concerning part of Jackson’s game for a nose tackle is his work against double teams.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
This is against the same center and he just gets taken out of the play entirely. At no point does he use a technique that is common for taking on double teams such as corkscrewing down to one knee, attempting to split the double, or playing the post man as a reach block and getting his hips into the drive man.
He seems to be a bit unaware of the double teams in general.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
Jackson is playing the center on this double but it does not seem as if he recognizes the double team coming his way. He’s playing too high and never gets in a position to weather the storm against this double team. This could be an example of why he lines up a hair off of the ball so that he has a little bit more time to read these things out.
Overall, he is an interesting piece for a coach to use as a run defender. His get off makes him an asset in a penetrating one gap defense or for slants where he can win with just his athletic ability, but until he can read those double teams quicker and take them on, it’s going to be a struggle for him to play nose tackle on base downs. Especially in a two-gap or gap and a half defense where he’s asked to hold the point and protect his linebackers.
Pass Rush
The pass rushing statistics for Jackson are not ideal. Pretty much everything was below the marks you would like to see for a defensive tackle. However, there is some necessary context with those numbers.
The first context is the situations where Jackson saw the field. Out of 129 pass rush snaps this season for Jackson, 89 of them came on first down, 2nd-and-medium or shorter, or 3rd-and-short. In those situations, Jackson is going to have to play the run first. The problem is that in the 40 pass rushes he had in either 2nd and long or 3rd and medium or longer, he managed one pressure. That equates to a 2.5% pressure percentage in those scenarios. That one pressure was a sack, but it’s still not ideal to be that inconsistent when you’re being asked to pin your ears back and get after the quarterback.
The other context needed for his pass rushing is his alignment. A majority of the time, Jackson would line up somewhere inside of the guard from a 2i on the guard’s inside shoulder to a 0 head up over the center. This means that Jackson was often facing the slide from the center.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
On plays like this it’s essentially dead on arrival for Jackson. The center is working to him and unless he is a tremendous pass rusher like a Geno Atkins or Aaron Donald, it’s not likely for him to win and manage a pressure or a sack.
Despite his alignment, there were still scenarios in which he could rush the passer and was not facing the slide.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
Here he lines up in 2i but instead of being doubled he is one on one with the center. Jackson goes for a stutter bull but the center sees it coming and wins. Jackson is playing a bit too high despite his shorter frame on this play. The center pretty easily gets underneath of him and is able to win the rep because of that.
Another problem Jackson has as a pass rusher is that he’s giving up his chest a bit too much.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
The guard on this play is able to immediately strike into Jackson’s chest and control the fight. A lot of trench play is dictated by striking into the chest of the opponent. It’s something that both sides are trying to protect on every play. Jackson needs to do a better job of avoiding punches to his chest so that he can use his moveset.
A majority of Jackson’s wins as a pass rusher once again came from his explosive athletic ability.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
This is an RPO where Jackson just flies into the backfield. He actually doesn’t have great eyes on this play because instead of playing Jones who is passing, he goes after the running back. Still it’s a great example of how he can win with just his athletic ability.
That’s not to say he doesn’t try any moves, but it seems as if he needs a little more work on following up his moves to win.
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) January 23, 2025
His club on this play is awesome. He knocks the center off balance and over enough to then win. The issue is he doesn’t capitalize.
It seems as if he almost knocks himself off balance with the club because he is stuck in the mud trying to take advantage of the situation. If he remains more balanced and immediately rushes and rips, then he would have a dominant win on this play.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a little bit hard to judge Jackson too harshly as a pass rusher. A lot of his inability to win is because of situation and alignment. He could improve his technique both on his bull rushes and when he attempts to win to either side of the offensive lineman though. Right now, he’s really just winning on high motor and athleticism. He has the athletic ability to become a quality pass rusher but at the moment he’s got quite a bit of work to do to hit that potential.
When it comes to defending the run, it’s a bit more interesting. The game seems to move a tad fast for him and that’s an issue for double teams and trying to read blocks to defeat them but he showed plenty of promise when it comes to weaponizing his athletic ability. He can win backdoor or by penetrating to the front side. It would be interesting to see him on some more slants because that would be a way to utilize that athletic ability. The biggest issue is he needs to catch up to the speed of the game so that he does not need to line up off of the ball like he was doing during his rookie season.
Jackson is built in the Larry Ogunjobi prototype. Ogunjobi would also use his athletic ability to win both as a pass rusher and a run defender. He developed a move set as a pass rusher to also beat the hands of the offensive lineman, which Jackson will have to do if he’s going to become anything close to Ogunjobi as a pass rusher.
They are also similar as run defenders though. Ogunjobi was a bit of a wild card because he could fly off of the ball and penetrate to make big plays but he would also guess on occasion and not only lose but hang his teammates out to dry because of it. Jackson was doing similar stuff this season. He would gamble and sometimes that resulted in a big play for the defense but it also led to his linebackers and safeties trying to cover up for him on occasion as well. Ogunjobi seems to be the higher end of outcomes for Jackson, but if he can continue to hone his abilities I could see him reaching that potential.
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