Florida State only has one player with a realistic opportunity to hear his name called in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, that player, defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr., remains on the board as the third round of the draft concluded late Friday night.
Some projections had Jackson getting selected between the No. 70 and No. 100 picks, or late in the third round. However, that didn’t happen, and now there’s no telling where he’ll get selected. He’s among the top undrafted defensive tackles remaining, but the No. 29 player overall remaining.
It’ll all come down to team needs and who picks who in front of Jackson at this point. We questioned his decision not to work out at the NFL Combine, but some of the footage I saw from his FSU Pro Day looked less than impressive. The teams know he’s a hulking individual, but the overall athleticism and explosion don’t seem to be there for him to be an impact player.
Darrell Jackson Jr. is a DT prospect in the 2026 draft class. He does not qualify for a #RAS due to a lack of measurements.https://t.co/vuegaC2ZZc pic.twitter.com/rOWPGJlqEb
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 19, 2026
Darrell Jackson Jr. lost a lot of money sliding to the fourth round or later.
Most teams are not going to pay top dollar for players with lots of question marks in that department. Jackson remains the lone hope for Florida State to continue its streak of having a player selected in the NFL Draft, but there’s literally no fan interest in the Draft because Florida State isn’t a factor beyond Jackson.
On the flip side, Miami and Florida have had multiple players selected, which is rubbing salt in the wounds for Florida State fans. FSU hasn’t beaten them on the field in the past two years and had only two players selected in last year’s draft. It’s like a never-ending nightmare since Florida State decided to keep Mike Norvell another season. The crazy part is there’s only one sure-fire guy on the team who’ll get drafted next year, and that’s Duce Robinson.
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