2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: LB D'Marco Jackson, Appalachian State

D’Marco Jackson, LB

Height: 6’1
Weight: 233 lbs.
Class: RS-Senior
School: Appalachian State
Arm length: 32 ½”
Wingspan: 77 ⅞”
Hand size: 9 ¼”

A former two-star recruit out of Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he attended Broome High School, Jackson was a running back coming out of high school, and he was the 249th ranked RB in the 2017 cycle.

He was the 61st-ranked prospect out of South Carolina. Jackson was the Herald Journal Defensive Player of the Year in high school at LB while rushing for over 3,000-yards as a running back. Jackson is the cousin of Maurice Morris, a former player with the Seahawks and Lions.

Notables

A true leader on the defensive side of the football for a smaller school, Jackson was very productive. In his senior season, he recorded 119 tackles, 20 for a loss, six sacks, an interception, five passes defended a forced fumble, 27 pressures, and 51 STOPS. He ended his career with 291 tackles, 35 for a loss, 11.5 sacks, three interceptions, 14 passes defended, 55 pressures, and 127 STOPs.

Jackson received All-American nominations from PFN (second team), Phil Steele (fourth team), and PFF (honorable mention). He was the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and was first-team All-Sun Belt in 2020 & 2021. Jackson attended the Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he was solid all week, and the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine:

40-yard-dash: 4.55s
10-yard-split: 1.56
Vertical jump: 33”
Broad jump: 125”

Strengths

Thick build in a more compact frame
Very good athlete with excellent short-area quickness and burst
Good overall change of direction and excellent lateral agility
Read his run keys well on counter and gap runs

Lousiana: Q4, 14:50
Miami: Q2, 4:22

A quick penetrator who flies downhill with a good physical nature
Good overall run defender who needs to clean up some tackling issues
Carries good pop on contact when tackling
Great bend in his lower half to evade contact when coming forward, and dip/turn in tight quarters

Miami: Q1, 00:32; Q1, 00:01
Marshall: Q1, 14:04 (on blitz); Q1, 3:37

Gets low and minimizes his surface area to get skinny when blitzing or penetrating
Has upside to be used as a pass-rusher in passing situations (needs to develop better hands)
Impressive defender in pursuit who does well to work around trash
Good overall range and speed
Effective blitzer who is excellent in green dog situations
Frequently flushed the scrambling quarterback to the sideline to force a throw-away
Has the capability to be a good man coverage cornerback
Was late to carry a RB wheel; he flipped his hips, located, and got his hand into the catch point in the end zone (Arkansas State: Q1, 00:17)
Fluid athlete in space
Solid zone awareness to pick up crossers
Team captain and will thrive on special teams in the NFL

Weaknesses/Can Improve

Short for a linebacker (15th% percentile)
Adquate overall play strength when he doesn’t explode into targets (gets washed out of plays, anchor issues)
Misses too many tackles (21% missed tackle rate in 2020 and 15.3% in 2021)
Can be a more disciplined tackler; he’s not consistently bad at this, but it’s a factor to the missed tackles
Over aggressive, will overplay or commit leaving his responsibility vulnerable
Pressed the LOS and false stepped at times, leaving him chasing instead of attacking
Engulfed at the second level when OL have clean release to climb
Relies on his bend and evasiveness to avoid OL contact; needs work with shedding when OL land hands
Solid overall coverage capable, but failed to cover #3 up the seam in 3x1 set vs Marshall (Q2, 12:46)
Played at a smaller level of competition

Summary

Overall, D’marco Jackson is an explosive undersized linebacker who does a solid job processing the game in the box with great penetration skills and pop-on contact. He struggled to keep himself clean and was often washed away from his run fit by climbing OL.

I appreciate his quick trigger coming downhill, his impressive range to cover space, and his pursuit/hustle. I am not one for comparisons because they typically do both players a disservice, but Jackson is a slightly less effective version of Nakobe Dean if I were to use a comparison.

If a team loves Dean and misses him on day one or early day two, then Jackson could be a target for them on day three. I think he’d fit well into Martindale’s scheme because of his ability to drop in coverage and the traits he shows when pressuring the quarterback. He will likely be a situational sub-package linebacker to start his career with the upside of becoming a solid WILL.

GRADE: 6.16

Join the Giants Country Community

Sign up for our FREE digest newsletter
Follow and like us on Facebook
Submit your questions for our mailbag
Listen and subscribe to the daily LockedOn Giants podcast.
Subscribe and like the new LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel
Sign up for our FREE message board forums