Former FSU defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. earned an invitation to the 2026 NFL Combine but chose to wait until his FSU Pro Day to do any drills. Although everyone knew he was a mountain of a man, his measurements still blew everyone away.
FSU will host its Pro Day on Friday, March 27th, and it’ll provide Darrell Jackson with the final opportunity to wow NFL Scouts and move up on their draft boards.
Jackson had strong performances at the Senior and Shrine Bowls, but his measurements at the NFL Combine showed he has lost quite a bit of weight. It looks like he may have been trying to trim some unnecessary weight to improve his short area burst and explosiveness.
Darrell Jackson Jr. has the physique to play in the NFL for a long time if he can remain injury free.
That’s been the knock on him for most of his career, and the willingness to play hard every rep when he first got to FSU. However, I think he largely negated that narrative over his last two years at FSU.
Mel Kiper Jr. released his latest mock draft a few days ago and had Darrell Jackson Jr. at No. 7 among the top 10 defensive tackles in the draft.
Jackson projects to likely go somewhere in the third round or top 100 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft next month. If that happens, it will continue FSU's streak of atleast one FSU player selected in the top 100 for quite some time.
Stay tuned to Chopchat for analysis on how he performs on Friday.