The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, one of the leading NFL Draft analysts with an evaluation acumen that rivals most NFL scouts, is already hard at work preparing for the 2024 NFL Draft. While scanning over some of the more underrated potential prospects set to enter the cycle early next year, Texas A&M defensive tackle Mckinnley Jackson is definitely on his radar moving forward.
After releasing his first 2024 NFL Draft Big Board, featuring his Top 50 player rankings for the upcoming 2023 college football season (subscription required), Jackson, entering his final campaign in Aggieland, came in at No. 36, one spot above LSU DT Masson Smith.
A bunch of "underrated" NFL prospects who made my initial top-50 and deserve to be talked about more:
CB Josh Newton, TCU
WR Keon Coleman, Florida State
OT Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma
DT McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M
CB Caelen Carson, Wake Forest📈📈📈 https://t.co/bek8giOewy
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) August 24, 2023
Jackson returns for his senior season after appearing in eight games for the Maroon and White last season, having been named defensive MVP for the Aggies in 2022. He recorded 37 total tackles, including seven for loss, along with two sacks and one fumble recovery. In 389 defensive snaps in 2022, he logged 219 as a run defender and 169 in pass rush situations.
Standing at an imposing 6-2 320 pounds, Jackson’s strength and first-step explosiveness immediately jump off the page. As Brugler notes, his backfield vision needs improvement, and there is no better way to reach his full potential than during the 2023 season.
Jackson is the presumptive leader of an Aggie defensive tackle rotation littered with blue-chip talent, including Walter Nolen, Shemar Turner, Shemar Stewart, Fadil Diggs, and LT Overton.
So far this offseason, Jackson has been named to the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy watch lists.
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