Clay Helton on Drake Jackson, impact on the USC defense

USC defensive end Drake Jackson has been one of the most dominant pass rushers in his two seasons at USC.

On a recent appearance on Sportscenter, USC head coach Clay Helton couldn’t help but smile when asked about Drake Jackson’s outlook for the season.

“I can’t wait for people to see it,” Helton said. “I think he’s in line to be able to be a part of a dynamic front when you talk about a Drake Jackson, Nick Figueroa, Tuli (Tuipulotu), even adding Korey Foreman. He’s one that just causes havoc, we watched that last year in our five-game regular season and looking forward to what he does this year.”

Helton added an anecdote about what freshmen quarterbacks Miller Moss and Jaxson Dart experience in fall camp.

“I know right now it’s hard blocking him in training camp every day,” Helton said. “I’ve got some young quarterbacks that are going from high school to college and they’re like ‘holy crud there’s Drake Jackson on one side, Korey Foreman on the other, this isn’t a nice day. ‘ “

Jackson will be the leader of one of the better defensive fronts in college football. On top of experienced veterans like the aforementioned Figueroa and Tuipoulotu, the Trojans added five-star Korey Foreman to the defensive line.

Last year, Drake Jackson proved to be one of the best pass rushers in college football. After lining up at defensive end as a freshman, Jackson lined up at outside linebacker under new defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. He finished with 20 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception and received All-Pac-12 second team and AP All-Pac-12 second-team honors.

As a freshman, Jackson broke out, finishing with 46 tackles, leading the team in tackles for loss and sacks with 11.5 and 5.5, respectively.

Drake Jackson mentioned in media availability earlier this month that this season will be his last in college and that he will declare for the 2022 NFL Draft, as previously reported by Sports Illustrated.

“This is my last year. I got to get out of here,” Jackson told media. “I’mma leave with a bang, too.”

He’s not leaving without giving something back though. As Foreman and the rest of the young Trojans gets accommodated to the college football level, Jackson is giving them advice to succeed.

“You see guys come and go, you got a lot of information that you want to give,” Jackson said. “So now it’s time to give it.”