Brad White evaluates D'Eryk Jackson's development

D’Eryk Jackson led Kentucky in tackles last season, but he is nowhere near perfect. On Thursday, UK defensive coordinator Brad White discussed the senior linebacker’s development.

“He’s such a smart player. Sometimes, he’s just got to cut loose and play, not overthink the downs,” White said. “He’s made a lot of plays this fall camp. He looks ready to take that next step.”

It’s difficult to imagine where Jackson’s next step could lead him. The junior LB led the Cats with 67 tackles in 13 appearances last season. Additionally, Jackson added 4.0 tackles for loss and two pass breakups.

The season was a bounce-back campaign for Jackson, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon in spring practice before his sophomore year. Although Jackson was able to fight back to compete in four games in 2021, he was not at his best.

White believes Jackson grew closer to his peak this summer.

“Some of his tackles, some of his finishing, to take him to that next level of linebacker play, it’s not going dead,” White said. “Like letting your feet go dead on a tackle and falling and giving up and giving up some leaky yardage.

“At the same point, not missing a tackle because you’re not in great body position. I think he does a lot of great work early. We need to put ourselves in a position to finish the play,” White said. “There’s almost a relaxation point and he needs to have a heightened urgency, at that point, to really snap on the finish.”

Jackson began to understand this urgency at the end of last season. The Georgia native recorded at least eight tackles in four of his last six games last season. Kentucky will need Jackson’s improved performances to become common to find success this season.

The Wildcats lost two pivotal pieces from its 2022 linebacker unit. First, the program lost DeAndre Square, a five-year contributor and clear-cut team leader. Additionally, UK will be without Jacquez Jones, who tallied over 300 tackles in his college career.

Despite the team’s offseason losses, White is confident his defense can take a step forward this season.

“It takes a concerted effort, a year’s worth of focus,” White said earlier this month. “It’s gonna take, this next month, getting ready, getting all of our guys into football shape. All those freshmen, especially those that played significantly for us last year with Deone and with Keaten and Alex Afari, we’re expecting that they take that next step, and we need them to — all of them.”