Report: Former USC Trojans star making surprise push into first-round in 2022 NFL Draft

The 2022 NFL Draft is less than 24 hours away and the anticipation is building across the country. One of the beautiful parts about the draft every year is the unpredictability of it. There are players whose stock unexpectedly falls and players whose stock unexpectedly rises. One player who could surprise this year is former USC defensive end Drake Jackson, whose agent Drew Rosenhaus recently predicted to Adam Schefter that his client would be a first-round selection.

It can be hard to trust agents, especially since their main objective is making their client the most money possible. Rosenhaus has been the king of this for several decades, so he knows the ins and outs of the National Football League remarkably well. That being said, it will be interesting to see if his prediction comes true.

One quick look at Jackson’s highlight tape and it’s readily apparent that his agent is not blowing hot air. The former USC star was freakishly dominant off the edge. He was able to get past opposing tackles with ease with excellent hand usage and when he did arrive at the quarterback, Jackson delivered some bone-jarring hits when he arrived. He also reportedly gained a substantial amount of weight recently, 19 pounds from the NFL Scouting Combine to the USC Trojans’ Pro Day. That’s likely another big reason for Jackson’s draft stock getting boosted.

That doesn’t mean every team has the former USC star going in the first round. The variance for his outcomes is rather wild, according to ESPN’s NFL Draft expert, Matt Miller. He spoke with a team that had Jackson slotted in the fifth round, whereas Miller had him pegged as a second-round prospect. That’s a massive disparity.

Jackson had a very dominant pass rush win rate at USC

The gifted edge prospect is currently listed at 6-foot-4, 274 pounds and has impressed a number of football analysts across the country with his film. In the 2021 season with the Trojans, Jackson racked up eight tackles for loss and five sacks. He posted his best numbers as a freshman, racking up 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks–which is impressive, considering the limited amount of pass rush opportunities he had. Jackson posted a win rate of 19 percent in pass rush situations, which is really good–not far behind some of the other top pass rushers in the 2022 NFL Draft.