On this website, there have been a ton of scouting reports on Ohio State players. While Ohio State has made a deep playoff run in the inaugural 12 team playoff, it is due to their high flying offense. A reason for their offensive explosion is due to their offensive line play, led by Donovan Jackson.
Donovan Jackson was rated as a 5 star recruit in the 2021 class coming out of Houston, Texas. One of the top linemen in college football, he has played in 53 career games over the past 4 seasons. This year, he has started 7 games at left tackle and 7 at left guard, sliding over after the season-ending injuries to Josh Simmons and Zen Michalski.
PLAYER INFO
Name: Donovan Jackson
Position: OL
Jersey: 55
Class: Senior
School: Ohio State
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 320
STRENGTHS
Donovan has good size and frame to play both on the interior and exterior of the offensive line. He has good arm length, helping him handle blocks. He offer teams positional versatility, sliding over to the tackle spot to help out the Buckeyes. He has a high football IQ, helping him pick up loopers and penetrators. He keeps a wide base, and has a quick first step. He also displays some athletic ability when moving up to the 2nd level to block linebackers on run plays.
WEAKNESSES
He has some hip stiffness when he tries to redirect, which can limit effectiveness on pulls. His hand placement is inconsistent, which can cause him to grab and wrap defensive players instead of striking.
PROJECTION
I believe that Jackson has the potential to sneak in his way to the back end of the 1st round. His floor will be in the 2nd round, as playing some left tackle offers versatility for teams looking to add offensive line help in this draft. He projects more of a guard but can kick out to tackle if need for injury help or protection issues.
Teams who Jackson can fit with:
- Houston Texans: Texans need to protect CJ Stroud, and a hometown product who has blocked for Stroud in college will help out the interior.
- Chicago Bears: Bears need to protect Caleb Williams. Teven Jenkins is going to be a free agent, and Jackson can slide in and play one of the guard positions.
- Seattle Seahawks: They can use interior line help since they struggled in pass protection this past year. He also offers the ability to kick out to tackle if need.
- Detroit Lions: Kevin Zeitler is 34 years old and sliding Jackson in will help keep the Lions offensive line one of the best in the league.
