Draft Guru's/College Football fans - WJIII

[Coryea]

Anyone know anything about William Jackson, CB from Houston? I've seen him on a mock draft going to us, and he's been available in a couple others as well. Yeah it's early, but I didn't catch much college football until the playoffs, so I've never heard of him.

 

[Hines57]

I'm projecting a new LG at pick 1.25 if they let Foster walk. Its about the same spot we got DeCastro at. Don't think we get a starting corner in the first round at 1.25. The way this team usually works, they'll go sign some bodies off the street and hope Grant, Golson and who ever is still on the roster are good enough to stick.

 

[ZACKB]

Kendall Fuller at 25.

 

[steelerscotty]

Trade back. I would like to see us add more picks if impact player is not there at #25.

 

[Coach]

Cornerback William Jackson III. A review

William Jackson III. Get to know him!


I love his statistics. Jackson had five interceptions and 23 pass breakups, leading the nation in passes defended! Allowed just 40% percent of passes thrown his way to be completed over last two years

I love his combine numbers. 6 feet tall, 31 3/4 inch arms ( Longer than average ) 4.37 40 yard speed.

But how does he look on film?

I watched some of it.



Pro's:

Looks great in a zone. High football IQ in terms of predicting where the pass will go. A quick-twitch type of athlete who breaks well on the ball.

Looks good in man coverage, often preferring to let the player get in front of him, shutting down the short pass, and daring the QB to throw it over his head. Jackson showed the ability to high point the ball and intercept it. This type of coverage can be risky, but when you have world class speed and good ball skills, you can play it.

Once Jackson intercepts it, he's a threat to take it to the house with speed and some moves.

Jackson is not afraid to stick his shoulder in for a big hit.

Scheme versatile. Can play cover two, cover three, cover man ( without a huge cushion ), or zone.

Will make QB's pay with bad throws. Great hands for the interception and to deflect passes. In 14 games played, he only had three of them where he had zero passed broken up. Impressive!


Con's

He's got a somewhat slim build. He does not appear to be a wrap-up tackler type, and could have some issues tackling larger receivers. Jackson looks for a hit more than a down and dirty type of wrap up tackle.

Plays aggressive, so he might be extra susceptible to double moves.

His level of competition was on the weak side, but he did pick Florida State off twice in a bowl game in 2015.

Might be a little flag prone, not from holding, but from making contact with the ball in the air.


My grade. He's a top 15 player in this draft and I hope he's there for us to select. I'm even okay trading our 3rd round pick to get him. Jackson is a pure cover type of corner who has the ability to play risky thanks to his size, speed, and ball skills. This is exactly what we need.


https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide..._011&hspart=iry&type=mcy_instlmtrx_16_05&tt=b

 

[wig]

Jackson is not afraid to stick his shoulder in for a big hit. / He's got a somewhat slim build.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster in the long term.

6 feet tall / often preferring to let the player get in front of him, shutting down the short pass, and daring the QB to throw it over his head.

I assume what you mean here is that he prefers to play in front of his receiver, shutting down the short routes. At 6', that's a VERY dangerous game unless he has rock-solid safety play behind him. Do the Steelers HAVE rock solid safety play?

His level of competition was on the weak side / In 14 games played, he only had three of them where he had zero passed broken up. Impressive!

Did those 14 games include the 2 pick game vs Florida State? Is it possible his stats are inflated by playing against weaker rivals. I'm not saying some great players don't come from smaller schools, they do. But it's pretty rare.

 

[Coach]

Wig: That sounds like a recipe for disaster in the long term

He's more Deion Sanders than Rod Woodson vs the run. He's 6 feet about 190. Not too light. Tackling won't be his forte, but I'll take a corner who can cover and run well over a corner who tackles well but can't cover or run fast enough. The way the rules are today suit Jackson's game.

I assume what you mean here is that he prefers to play in front of his receiver, shutting down the short routes. At 6', that's a VERY dangerous game unless he has rock-solid safety play behind him. Do the Steelers HAVE rock solid safety play

?

On short routes yes. It can be dangerous both ways. But I think Jackson has the right size, speed and skill set to play this type of shut down coverage vs most NFL receivers. Jackson's coverage skills, jumping skills, and ball skills are so good I'd take the good with the bad here. The Steelers do not have good safeties, but if they have a really good cover corner, they can afford to help the other corner out more often by cheating to his side if necessary. I think Gay will leave in free agency, making corner the biggest team need by far.

Did those 14 games include the 2 pick game vs Florida State? Is it possible his stats are inflated by playing against weaker rivals. I'm not saying some great players don't come from smaller schools, they do. But it's pretty rare.

Yes, 2 of his five picks were vs Florida State in the bowl game. Houston played the following ranked teams.

FLA State ( 9 )
Navy ( 16 )
Temple ( 20 )
Memphis ( 25 )

I do think his competition level inflated his stats a bit, but I also think how he made the plays speaks volumes about his ability if that makes sense. How often he was targeted is a very good question. With his ability it could have been a lower amount in man, however in zone players are harder to avoid. 23 passes defended is very rare for a season, and on the film, I saw many of the passes his way that he broke up were catchable balls for the receiver.

For what's it's worth, I loved Peters last year despite a slower 40 time ( 4.57 I think ) and off the field issues. Jackson based on reports was a team leader type.

 

[slashsteel]

speaking of draftnicks

its comin!

http://store.lindyssports.com/category.php?cn=NFLDRAFT

 

[Tibs]

I'm even okay trading our 3rd round pick to get him.

 

[CoolieMan]

Jackson started 28 games in his three seasons with the Houston program, highlighted by the 2015 season when he set the Houston single-season record and led the nation with 23 pass breakups. Jackson also led the nation in passes defended with 28, finishing 20th nationally with five interceptions.

He finished his career third on the UH career pass breakups chart with 40 despite only playing three seasons and was named the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Defensive MVP after recording a career-high 10 tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups in Houston’s win over Florida State. Jackson also set the Houston single game record with seven pass breakups in the American Athletic Conference Championship game.

Jackson is much better tackler than deon ever dreamed of being. Unlike deon, he doesn't mind sticking his head in there to make a hit, his issue is wrapping up.

Yes the level of competition could have been better, and I guess in the AAC Championship game Temple didn't buy into him being a solid defender, because they threw his way the whole game, but not many were caught. FSU did have a WR beat him deep on one play when he focused on the backfield too long trying to support the run (they did shut down Cook) but the ball was thrown short and Jackson's speed allowed him to get back and break it up. His 2 picks and 10 tackles (more tackles than deon would get in a season) earned him the Defensive MVP of the Peach Bowl

Jackson was one of the senior leaders on defense who bought into Herman's program early and helped get the rest of the team to follow their lead.

going into the combine I wasn't sure about him in the first. Now if he is there and BPA, I would like it...if he slipped to the 2nd, I would love him there

 

[Coach]

I said the same for Peters. Would you take that now?

 

[chipped ham]

Jackson is much better tackler than deon ever dreamed of being. Unlike deon, he doesn't mind sticking his head in there to make a hit, his issue is wrapping up.

Yes the level of competition could have been better, and I guess in the AAC Championship game Temple didn't buy into him being a solid defender, because they threw his way the whole game, but not many were caught. FSU did have a WR beat him deep on one play when he focused on the backfield too long trying to support the run (they did shut down Cook) but the ball was thrown short and Jackson's speed allowed him to get back and break it up. His 2 picks and 10 tackles (more tackles than deon would get in a season) earned him the Defensive MVP of the Peach Bowl

Jackson was one of the senior leaders on defense who bought into Herman's program early and helped get the rest of the team to follow their lead.

going into the combine I wasn't sure about him in the first. Now if he is there and BPA, I would like it...if he slipped to the 2nd, I would love him there

I dunno much about him either but I, too, have seen his name all over the place. Especially after the combine. I know you're a big UH guy so I'll ask; does Jackson resemble DJ Hayden? Hayden blew up at the combine in similar fashion running a similar 40, if I'm not mistaken. However, Hayden has struggled badly to this point. I remember reading a couple articles about him being a possible cap casualty due to his play last year. Of course the raiders obviously have the stupid tendency to overdraft based solely on a 40 time.

 

[ark steel]

one of the other threads Del posted a link where you can see plays during a whole game with the player highlighted. I'm sure there are videos of him there, but I can't remember the thread and I don't have the link bookmarked.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Here's Jackson vs Florida State.

He gets an INT at 2:35 on an underthrown ball and Griese says Jackosn was beat and it should have been a TD. I disagree. Jackson was stride for stride but then he looks back and sees the underthrow and that is when the WR pulls away from him because Jackson was playing the ball.

Every Steeler CB would have ran with that WR and the ball would have fell incomplete 5 yards behind them.

You do see early in the video that Jackson gets juked for a big gain. That's his main negative, that he is a bit stiff, but he's 6 ft so you can't have everything. That likely is not a negative to the steelers because of the way they play their CBs, they will like his run support.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rNy9NqP2xw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[POP]

Williwe Jackson 3

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...edictions-at-the-start-of-free-agency/page/26

Why do I have the feeling they won't go CB, to prove how much smarter they are than everyone else?

 

[FordFairLane]

I truly believe they will stick with their board. They don't have much ammo to go get a player they want so they likely sit and see who is on the board and if CB is top or near the top they take them. Or maybe they trade back to get more picks since we threw a few away in the offseason. idk but I don't think they should go into the draft saying they have to draft a CB.

 

[Coach]

Part of the problem is Tomlin hardly played Grant at all and Golson got hurt early. And then we traded for Boykin and didn't play him much at all. The other part of the problem is we've got a bunch of slot guys who are a little short and slow.

If Gay leaves, I think we have to go corner in rounds 1 or 2. As Rooney put it, we made some mistakes at DB.

 

[CoolieMan]

Here's Jackson vs Florida State.

He gets an INT at 2:35 on an underthrown ball and Griese says Jackosn was beat and it should have been a TD. I disagree. Jackson was stride for stride but then he looks back and sees the underthrow and that is when the WR pulls away from him because Jackson was playing the ball.

Every Steeler CB would have ran with that WR and the ball would have fell incomplete 5 yards behind them.

You do see early in the video that Jackson gets juked for a big gain. That's his main negative, that he is a bit stiff, but he's 6 ft so you can't have everything. That likely is not a negative to the steelers because of the way they play their CBs, they will like his run support.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rNy9NqP2xw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

that was the only big play against him....as I've said before he is not afraid of contact, but sometimes doesn't wrap up.

In the Peach Bowl, I think 5 balls were caught by his guy. all five were in front of him and he made the tackle. One was on 3rd and goal, he was guarding the goal line ant his guy caught the ball at about the two...he was driven back to close to the 5..they settle for a field goal. the next one was on 3rd down and they through the ball 3 yards short of the marker, and Jackson tackles him right there. The other three were more slant type routes late in the game and he made the tackle immediately. He ended any pray FSU had by jumping a route on their last drive for his second pick of the game.

 

[CoolieMan]

I truly believe they will stick with their board. They don't have much ammo to go get a player they want so they likely sit and see who is on the board and if CB is top or near the top they take them. Or maybe they trade back to get more picks since we threw a few away in the offseason. idk but I don't think they should go into the draft saying they have to draft a CB.

I love this kid, but wouldn't want them to reach either. IF he is BPA when they pick in round 1 fine