Landon Jackson, Arkansas: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Jackson was a four-star recruit from Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas in the class of 2021
Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson has one of the rarest builds among edge rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft. He had a strong finish to Senior Bowl week and took over several games throughout his time in college. Jackson needs to go to a team with a clear vision for his long-term role and development.
Jackson received an early third round grade, which places him in the top 50 range among all players on my final big board.
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Landon Jackson, Edge Arkansas: 2025 NFL Draft Profile
Classification: Senior defensive end from Texarkana, Texas
Background: Jackson was a four-star recruit from Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas in the class of 2021. He was the No. 125 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 177 for On3.com. Jackson was an unranked four-star recruit for Rivals. ESPN ranked him 78th in the nation with an 85 grade out of 100. Jackson transferred from LSU to Arkansas for the 2022 season. He amassed 45.5 sacks in his high school career. As a senior, he totaled 35 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and three receiving touchdowns. During his dominant junior campaign, he recorded 110 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, seven forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and eight passes defensed on his way to being the Texas Sports Writers Association 4A Defensive Player of the Year, a MaxPreps First-Team All-American, and leading Pleasant Grove to a Texas 4A D-II State Championship. Jackson earned unanimous First Team All-District honors as a sophomore when he totaled 56 tackles and nine sacks. He was the Texas District 7-4A-II Defensive Newcomer of the Year when he tallied 98 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, six passes defensed, and an interception as Pleasant Grove captured a state championship. Jackson was born on Jan. 2, 2003. His father, Larry, played basketball at Texas A&M and McNeese State, and his mother, Katie Peek, played volleyball at McNeese State. Jackson’s younger brother, Lance, has committed to Texas as an edge rusher with five and four-star ratings.
Injuries & Off-Field: Suffered a torn left ACL in 2018 as a high school sophomore, suffered an ankle fracture in October of his high school senior year in 2020, missed 2021 spring practices while recovering from ankle injury, limited or out of 2022 spring practices while recovering, hip pointer vs. Tennessee (2024), taken off on a stretcher with fear of a neck injury after hit to the head vs. Missouri (2024)
Awards: 2023 First Team All-SEC, 2023 Team Captain, 2024 Second Team All-SEC
Pros: Wingspan, explosive athlete, room on frame to add mass, quick off the line, covers ground quickly with long strides, uses explosive horizontal step to escape the tackle’s punch and soften angle to quarterback, quality bend at his size, active hands, rip move, swipe-rip, flying chop, chop-rip, inside cross-chop, club-swim, long-arm move, swim move, long-arm and speed to power combo occasionally folds linemen, speed rush through B-gap, uses powerful arm extensions to open B-gap, frequently attacks B-gap, threat rushing inside opens opportunities for others on stunts, spins back into the action, closing burst, explosiveness to shoot gaps, long arms and wide base to stack blocks, threat as a backside run defender, demolishes blocking tight ends, tackle radius, motor runs hot, competitive mentality that plays through the whistle
Cons: Injury history, build creates some required role specificity, arm length is just average, high-cut, lacks density and play strength to line up between the tackles, natural pad level concerns, tall and high hipped frame limits effective bend, inconsistent balance as a pass rusher, sometimes late to shoot hands, needs to channel power through arms and protect frame more consistently, struggles to maintain rush trajectory once the lineman gains access to his torso, unable to consistently finish bull rushes, lacks the elite COD and agility to corral twitchy QBs, must get long arms in passing lanes more often, needs more instantaneous stack and shed technique, linemen eventually find his ribs and drive him out of plays, struggles to reset and re-anchor at POA, easily pinned inside on outside runs when lined up as a 4i, knocked off the line by combo blocks
Overview: Jackson primarily aligned from 4i out to wide-9 for the Razorbacks. His arms measured 33 1/4 inches at the NFL Scouting Combine and 33 5/8 inches at the Senior Bowl, which isn’t elite. However, Jackson’s fantastic wingspan is above the 90th percentile for an edge rusher and gives him great functional reach. He enters the NFL with a questionable injury history and a unique, tall, and high-cut frame that creates some role specificity with his projection to the next level. Jackson is an explosive athlete with room to add mass and further develop his frame. He’s quick off the line and uses his long strides to get upfield quickly. The senior takes an explosive horizontal step to get out of the offensive tackle’s punch range. This causes the tackle to miss their initial punch and helps Jackson get wide to flatten his rush angle. His high-hipped and tall build limits his ability to play low and bend around the corner, but he showcases quality bend at his size. Jackson attacks offensive linemen with active hands, but he needs to shoot his hands earlier in the play to keep blockers out of his frame. Once the lineman gets into his torso, he struggles to stay balanced and maintain his rush trajectory because of his high pad level and lean build. The Texas native’s pass rush plan includes cross-chops, chop-rips, long-arms, club-swims, swims, rips, and swipe-rips. He struggles to finish bull rushes because of his lack of density but occasionally just folds offensive linemen with speed to power. Jackson frequently attacks the B-gap with a speed rush or cross-chop or uses his powerful arm extensions to pry open the B-gap. He creates a ton of opportunities for his teammates on stunts. Jackson has excellent closing burst once he gets into the backfield but lacks the change of direction and agility to mirror and corral elusive quarterbacks. There’s a debate about his ideal role in the NFL. Jackson doesn’t appear to have the bend for tight alignments, and playing him tight limits his potential as a pass rusher. Playing outside the tackle’s shoulder gives him a friendlier outside angle and a two-way go as a rusher to take advantage of his B-gap counters. He can reduce down to play base end on run downs, but that’s not his ideal alignment on passing downs. In the run game, Jackson fires through gaps and is a threat as a backside defender. He stacks blocks with a long-arm and wide base but needs a more instantaneous way to shed blocks. Jackson struggles to re-anchor once he starts losing ground, and he lacks the power to consistently reset the line of scrimmage. He lacks the anchor to stand up to combo blocks. Jackson is a high motor defender who plays through the whistle.
Overall, Jackson is an explosive pass rusher with a well-developed set of rush moves who makes the most of two-way rush lanes from wide alignments. His unique build makes him a role-specific prospect, but he fits the direction many defenses are trending with their formations and alignments.
Role & Scheme Fit: Wide-alignment rusher who can reduce as a base end
Round Grade: Early Third Round
Size: 6'6", 264 lbs. (NFL Combine)
Submitted: 12-12-24
Updated: 03-15-25