Jim Nagy on Darrell Jackson Jr: ‘This dude doesn’t grow on trees’

Darrell Jackson Jr. missed the 2023 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Experts expect the Florida State defensive lineman to make a massive impact for the Seminoles in the 2024 campaign. On Friday, Reese’s Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy raved about Jackson.

“Darrell is a really fun prospect,” Nagy told On3’s Andy Staples. “I went back to that 2022 Miami tape and, man, this dude doesn’t grow on trees. That’s what we used to refer to guys in New England when I was there. Like, these guys don’t grow on trees.

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“This guy is a mountain of a man. He’s got 35-inch arms and 11-and-a-half-inch hands. He’s just a huge human being, really hard to move. He did play the bowl game against Georgia, so there is one game of tape from last year.”

In his lone appearance last season, Jackson tallied three tackles against the Bulldogs. However, the hype behind Jackson comes from his 2022 season. He started all 12 games his sophomore year at Miami and amassed 27 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and one pass breakup.

Jackson notched a career-high seven tackles alone in Florida State’s narrow 27-24 loss to North Carolina that year. Nagy claims Jackson’s game reminds him of a former LSU standout.

“The guy he kind of reminded me of in last year’s draft, if we’re doing the comparison thing, a little bit, is [Maason Smith] from LSU last year,” Nagy said. “Maason ended up going in the second round, and Darrell’s tape from 2022 is probably a little better and a little more consistent than Maason Smith… You’re talking about a big man that’s hard to move, that’s explosive, that can push the pocket.”

For reference, Smith recorded 28 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and two pass deflections in the 2023 campaign — nearly identical statistics to Jackson’s 2022 season. With a full year to work on his game without the risk of injury, there’s no telling what Darrell Jackson Jr. will be capable of in 2024.

Nonetheless, he’s certainly excited to find out.

“I just came in with the mindset that I’m going to work,” Jackson said in the spring. “I know last year … it was a blur for me. So this year, I just came in with the mindset like, ‘I’m going to get everything I deserve and earn it.’

“It feels great,” Jackson continued. “Last year … I can’t control that. But this year, I control everything I desire. So I’m going to get it.”