Warren Jackson 2021 NFL Draft Overview
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 215 pounds
School: Colorado State
Warren Jackson 2021 NFL Draft Profile
Warren Jackson played his high school football at Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, California. Jackson was a three-star prospect and had offers from Power 5 schools, and while he originally committed to Arizona he ended up attending Colorado State.
His freshman and sophomore seasons saw Jackson play in limited action behind other talented receivers, including Michael Gallup, Preston Williams and Olabisi Johnson. In his freshman year in 2017 Jackson played in nine games and had 15 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns. His sophomore campaign saw him catch 32 balls for 405 yards and find the endzone four times. In 2019, his junior year, Jackson had a breakout season with 77 receptions for 1,119 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games. He ranked fourth in the FBS with 111.9 receiving yards per game and earned First-Team All-Mountain West honors. After the initial cancellation of the Mountain West Conference fall football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson opted out of the 2020 season and began preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Strengths
- Really long wingspan
- Usually catches uncontested throws
- Good footwork and awareness near the sideline
- Good size and length
- Competitive at the catch point
- Matchup problem in the red zone
- Great catch radius
Weaknesses
- Needs to improve getting in and out of breaks
- Needs to have a better and quicker release
- Needs to improve in run blocking
- Struggles to create separation against man coverage in the short-to-intermediate areas
- Doesn’t possess top end speed
- Will be limited to playing exclusively on the outside
NFL Comparison: Tim Patrick, Collin Johnson, but could also develop into a player like Kenny Golladay or Preston Williams
Teams With Need at Position: Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tennessee Titans
Projection: Fifth or sixth round
Bottom Line on Warren Jackson
Jackson will initially see time as a backup and when playing wide receiver he will line up on the outside. If he is developed correctly he could be a nice weapon and provide some nice mismatch possibilities. He is especially adept at bringing in back shoulder throws near the sideline and a team would be smart to utilize that talent in the red zone. The issue is he doesn’t possess top-end speed so he will not be a huge vertical threat, but he will almost exclusively play on the outside when he lines up at receiver. But his size and length will allow him to win contested catches and help keep the chains moving.
The last time Jackson saw the field was in 2019 and he played the last six games with a grade three sprained AC joint. That shows his toughness and it also means teams will be evaluating Jackson off of tape from 2019 when he was playing with an injury. Jackson could be a nice addition for some team later in the draft.
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