Why the Slide?: Darrell Jackson Jr

Why the Slide Series

Darrell Jackson Jr., DT, Florida State

Rnk: 71 SR PRP: 7 Ovr: 103. B+

This series was created a number of years ago in response to questions about why certain well-known prospects went unselected in NFL drafts. For these articles, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player and/or the reasons other teams passed on that prospect. The positive response to “Why Undrafted” and questions from readers about why prospects were drafted lower than the media’s expectations led us to create the parallel series “Why the Slide?” and “Was it a Reach?”

The trio of series is back this year. Feel free to email me requests at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.

During a lot of the lead-up to the 2026 NFL Draft, Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. was considered by many to be a potential second-day pick. Jackson had some solid seasons during a multi-stop college career. In 2022, Jackson had 27 tackles with 4.5 tackles for a loss and three sacks in his one season with the Hurricanes. He was forced to redshirt in 2023 after transferring to Florida State. In 2024, he had 32 tackles with four tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, one pass batted, and one forced fumble. In his final season with the Seminoles, Jackson totaled 45 tackles with three for a loss and one sack. Many thought the 6-foot-5, 315-pounder could go in the second round, but he slid to the fourth round.

Multiple team sources say they did not see a slide for Jackson and felt the fourth round was where he belonged. They saw him as a two-down run-stuffing nose tackle whose game was all power. They felt he was limited as a pass rusher, was a tight spatial athlete, and lacked instincts. Thus, they felt he belonged on day three and in the fourth round.

The New York Jets ended Jackson’s slide, and that was a decent landing spot. After trading for T’Vondre Sweat, New York has a starting nose tackle who has a ton of upside and talent. However, Sweat has had issues with his weight and stamina, so Jackson could earn significant snaps as a rotational backup used to help keep Sweat fresh. Jackson will have to beat out first-round bust Mazi Smith, and that should be doable for Jackson. If Jackson plays well as a backup for Sweat, that could lead to Jackson carving out a pro career as a rotational defender.