Film Room: What Steelers Are Getting in William Jackson
The Pittsburgh Steelers made headlines after they sent Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears. But that wasn’t the only they move that they would make ahead of the trade deadline. They also acquired William Jackson III and a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick for a 2025 sixth-round pick.
The former University of Houston standout is someone the Steelers have been linked to in the past. You can recall that the Steelers sent the house to his Pro Day back in 2016, only to have the Cincinnati Bengals trade up and snipe him right out of their hands just prior to being on the clock. This unfortunate event led to the Steelers pivoting and turning their attention to Artie Burns out of Miami shortly thereafter.
Despite being marred by injuries during his time in Cincinnati, Jackson flashed enough talent and potential to earn himself a nice payday. Washington inked him to a three-year, $40 million dollar deal in March of 2021 but the experiment didn’t pan out for either party.
After finding himself as a healthy scratch, he was likely going to be released if Washington was unable to find a trade suitor by the deadline.
Enter the Pittsburgh Steelers, a defense that’s struggled to keep a lid on things in the back end in terms of preventing big plays.
By taking a peak at the film, we can understand why the Steelers took a flier on a familiar face and figure out how he fits into their defensive scheme. (Disclaimer: Jackson is the LCB in all of the clips posted under each section)
Press Man
Throughout his college and NFL career, press man has been the ultimate comfort zone for Jackson as nearly all of his best reps that I've seen over the years have came when aligned near the line of scrimmage. Jackson prefers a motor technique and has quick feet and uses them to mirror receivers’ movements off the line. It also helps that he's always been gifted with incredible speed, allowing him the ability to run stride-for-stride with athletes down the field without much issue.
Jackson's unique combination of size, length and speed make him the ideal prototype for what scouts covet in press players.
He's a fairly fluid player who can flip his hips and run without any issues. He's a bit too quick to open the gate at times which is somewhat common for athletically gifted specimens but it can get him into trouble at times as well. Jackson plays with a different level of confidence and brings a certain swag about him when tasked with press coverage.
Below is a compilation of wins in press. The first of which is the most notable considering it's press coverage against CeeDee Lamb, who can obviously fly, but Jackson is with him step for step, finds the football and breaks up the pass.
Off Coverage/Click and Close Ability
While not quite his bread and butter, Jackson has his moments in off-coverage. Jackson's backpedal is super smooth with very little wasted motion. He's also capable of getting in and out of his breaks efficiently. His click-and-close ability allows him to drive on underneath throws and work his way back into passing lanes or collision the receiver. When he sees it, he can trigger downhill fast and cover ground in a hurry.
There are several reps in the video below that demonstrate some of the things mentioned above in regards to these specific traits. This first rep against D.J. Chark of the Lions is particularly impressive. Chark is trying to set up and inside stem before running a blaze out but Jackson ends up closing the space and running the route for him deterring the throw elsewhere.
Struggles in Zone Coverage
Watching Jackson take on zone coverage responsibilities is truly an adventure for lack of a better word. He's just straight-up not comfortable playing zone and looks like a completely different player. From his demeanor to his performance, it's rough to watch at times. All of this plays a big part in Washington's eagerness to move on from him as the team looked to play more zone coverage which is just not a very good fit for Jackson's skill set.
His eyes in zone coverage are sometimes in the wrong spot where he'll become hyper-fixated on the player lined up across from him despite not being in man coverage, as you can see in the first clip. There are times when he's not lined up with the proper leverage, leaving him susceptible to giving up too much space to where he's unable to make a play on the ball.
Aside from crossers coming his way, he's not extremely keen on understanding route concepts that are developing either in front or behind him. This lack of comfort has made him a one-trick pony of sorts in a league where defenses are relying on zone coverage over half of the time.
Mental Errors/Big Plays/Penalties
Jackson's aggressive nature leads to a myriad of mental errors that lead to potential big plays. When you lump these things together to pair with the struggles in zone coverage, you begin to understand why Jackson is such a confusing player.
Coming out of college, one of the knocks on him was that he was heavily penalized and that followed him into the league. Over the course of his career, 34 flags have been thrown his way, four of those coming this season in a little over three games played. He has a bad habit of being grabby through routes even when he doesn't necessarily need to be.
The mental errors are even more baffling, whether it's not knowing where the ball is on a jet sweep play or just making some mind-boggling decisions.
Against the Jaguars, there was a third and long where he was in off-man coverage. He came flying downhill on an out route that was well short of the first down marker even if it was caught. Problem was that it was an out and up and he was completely beat on the play but ultimately bailed out by a bad throw. He's allowed several big plays down the field either via completions or pass interference calls which will need to be addressed immediately.
Quick Hitters/Other Observations
Despite 51 career pass breakups, the interceptions have never quite been there as he's only come away with five over the course of his career. Even if he's a half tick slower, the recovery speed is still there and as a press corner, that's very important since no one wins every rep off of the line, especially Jackson.
He had some noteworthy performances against Antonio Brown back in the day that highlight what he was or can be at his absolute peak when utilized correctly.
He's a reliable tackler in the open field that won't lay a ton of big hits on ball carriers or receivers. He will be a participant in run support, sometimes more engaged than others but generally no concerns on that front.
Where Do Steelers Go From Here?
Much effort was put in to give a positive spin but the film’s not great which was what I expected given that he wasn't a good scheme fit for what Washington wanted to do defensively.
Any time a team signs you to a big-money contract and then 18 months later decides that they would rather make you a healthy scratch before finding you a new home, it’s telling. So there are some buyer beware signs here for everyone involved, and the organization plus fans alike need to temper expectations.
With that being said, this trade is very low risk for Steelers with Jackson only counting $3.1M on the cap this season. Over the next nine games, they get the chance to decide if they’d like to pick up his option when the new league year begins in 2023. His cap hit next season jumps up to $12.75M per overthecap.com which means he’s going to need to ball out in the short term in order to see that payday.
Also, late-round pick swaps three years down the line for a player that could potentially help a struggling defense in the now is meaningless. The draft compensation behind all this is virtually a non-talking point. All the trade did was ensure that they wouldn’t have to compete with other teams on the open market.
There’s also a link between Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and Jackson, as Austin coached him in Cincinnati back in 2018. While Jackson did allow seven touchdowns that season, he also broke up 12 passes under his tutelage. Austin is familiar with his game and can hopefully provide assist him in resurrecting his career in Pittsburgh.
This trade tells me that the Steelers want to play more man coverage on the outside. Jackson’s a very scheme-specific cornerback. If you simplify things and tell him go line up outside in press and strap this receiver up, he’s more likely to rise to the challenge. If you’re asking him to run a bunch of zone coverage where he’s forced to identify multiple threats and reduce surface area then he’s likely going to disappoint you. That’s what Washington found out rather quickly and why the marriage was short-lived.
According to Sports Info Solutions, only five teams in the NFL played more man coverage through week seven than the Steelers. Against Philadelphia in Week 8, Pittsburgh trusted their outside corners, specifically Ahkello Witherspoon to match up with the likes up A.J. Brown on the boundary. Brown destroyed them from start to finish, scoring three touchdowns on deep throws down the field in the first half alone. Over the course of his career, Jackson has relished those opportunities against star receivers.
In a lot of ways, Jackson is similar to Witherspoon in that both of them are wildly inconsistent. The highs are extremely enticing and the lows are excruciatingly frustrating. Watching this play out will be fascinating and far from boring.
If anyone can get the most out of the former first-round pick, it’s probably Mike Tomlin. Six years in the making, the Steelers finally got their guy.
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