Where has Jayden Jackson grown the most after standout freshman year?
NORMAN — Jayden Jackson had plenty of momentum after a great freshman campaign in 2024.
But that momentum was stifled a bit in the spring as he was recovering from shoulder surgery. With Jackson missing spring practices, he found other ways to stay engaged.
“It kind of forced me to look deeper into our plays and schemes,” Jackson said. “See what the (defensive end) kind of does here (on this play) instead of my job. See where the backers plug in, things like that.
“So it definitely opened my horizon to our playbook.”
Fortunately for the Sooners, Jackson has fully recovered from the procedure and has been fully involved in preseason camp. And he’s looking to build on the strong foundation he set last year.
It didn’t take long for Jackson to claim the spot atop the depth chart at defensive tackle, becoming the first Sooner freshman to start on the defensive line since Tommie Harris. He proved to be one of the Sooners’ most consistent players last season — he started 10 games and was one of only 12 defensive players to play in every game. He logged 387 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, the most of any true freshmen and finished with 30 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks.
It was a lot of responsibility for a true freshman.
“(He’s) a hell of a player,” OU teammate David Stone said. “A good ball player. Very knowledgeable. Just having that person, someone close to me, be able to pick game from him, steal little tips and tricks, it’s a blessing to have. Even our whole d-line room, Dam Williams and Gracen Halton, all the guys, we all can sit together and nitpick each other and learn from each other. It’s all love. No bickering or anything like that when it comes to critiquing each other and taking any game from one another.”
The consistency Jackson showed as a true freshman was rare. He was also impactful defender against the run, logging a run-defense grade of 72.1. But there were obvious areas of needed growth, too, and that’s where defensive tackles coach Todd Bates has pushed him.
“He’s grown on how he gets off the ball and in his pass rush,” Bates said. “He was already just stuffing the run, and we’ve gotten him to where he’s playing with more length and being able to shed blocks more violently and be even more of a dominant force in the middle. You challenge those guys to be violent on their escapes and finish in a dominant position. And a dominant position for a defensive tackle sometimes is knocking the double team back, knocking the drive man back.
“And he’s getting in that position constantly and he’s comfortable there in adversity.”
If Jackson can grow on last season, that would raise the ceiling of the defensive line significantly. He’s in line to again start next to Damonic Williams on the interior, and the Freshman All-American has shown the potential to be an all-conference player. When asked about Jackson earlier this week, OU coach Brent Venables referred to him as “consistent” while providing “elite leadership.”
Now that Jackson knows what to expect, he’s hoping to put together an even better season as a true sophomore.
“I’m not saying I’m comfortable, but it’s just familiar,” Jackson said. “I’m not going into this raw. Last year I was going into this firsthand. Everything was quicker, everything was stronger, faster. So this year I kind of have a grasp of what’s going to happen this season.”
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