Tag: Deon Jackson

Colts’ player of the game vs. Lions: RB Deon Jackson

RB Deon Jackson is the player of the game for the Colts in the preseason finale.

The Indianapolis Colts finished off their first undefeated preseason in 27 years with a comeback 27-17 win over the Detroit Lions.

While we had some impressive showings on both sides of the ball by a handful of players, including first-round pick Kwity Paye’s strip-sack or Dezmon Patmon’s two big catches for 64 yards sparking the offense.

Another impressive night came from kicker Rodrigo Blankenship finishing off a perfect preseason himself going 4 for 4 on field goals with a long kick of 43 yards. But without a doubt, the player who stepped up the most this game and sealed the win for Indianapolis was undrafted running back Deon Jackson.

While the Colts rested many starters for this game, it gave the young running back out of Duke a great opportunity to show this coaching staff what he could do running the ball. Jackson did not disappoint rushing for 81 yards on just 10 carries. Jackson more importantly added two touchdowns on the day, one three-yard goal-line catch where he also ran the two-point conversion successfully, the other the 42-yard rushing touchdown to clinch the win.

The Colts may have one of the deepest running back rooms in the NFL, but teams always seem find a spot for players like Jackson. Be it on the practice squad, or possibly another teams roster, Jackson’s performance to end the preseason should go a long way in moving his career forward in the right direction.

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5 takeaways from Colts’ preseason win over Lions

Takeaways from the Colts’ preseason finale.

The Indianapolis Colts’ final preseason game played like the fourth game on the previous preseason schedule because both teams didn’t play a majority of their starters.

The backend of the roster showed they had some fight as they had to make another comeback for the third week in a row to leave with the win. Indianapolis finished undefeated in the preseason for the first time since 1994.

There wasn’t much that will carry into the regular season but there are some things to consider as Chris Ballard figures out his final 53-man roster.

Here are five takeaways from the preseason finale:

6 Colts on the roster bubble entering preseason finale

These Colts are on the roster bubble entering the preseason finale.

With the Indianapolis Colts concluding training camp 2021 at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, they have one final preseason game to go against the Detroit Lions.

More importantly, the team has one more opportunity for fringe roster players to impress and earn a role going forward, be that on the active roster or the practice squad.

Head coach Frank Reich said Wednesday that the team will not play starters this game, which provides even more opportunity and snaps for roster bubble players.

Here, we’ll take a look at five players who are on the bubble entering the preseason finale:

Colts sign 5 undrafted rookie free agents

Colts add 5 UDFAs.

The Indianapolis Colts signed five undrafted rookie free agents following the 2021 NFL draft and waived cornerback Will Sunderland, the team announced Thursday.

Those undrafted rookie free agents include:

  • LB Anthony Butler, Liberty
  • LB Isaiah Kaufusi, BYU
  • RB Deon Jackson, Duke
  • WR Tarik Black, Texas
  • WR Tyler Vaughns, USC

The Colts typically have more undrafted rookie free agents to bring in. However, there simply aren’t as many spots on the roster this offseason.

Two of the undrafted rookie received hefty signing bonuses, which shows how much the Colt prioritized them. Jackson, the running back from Duke, got a $45,000 signing bonus, which is potentially the highest Chris Ballard has ever given out. Vaughns, the wide receiver out of USC, received a $22,000 signing bonus as well.

The Colts have a long streak of 21 seasons with an undrafted rookie making the Week 1 roster. It will be interesting to see if that streak is extended with one of these five players.

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Report: Colts giving UDFA RB Deon Jackson $45k signing bonus

Indy seems to value the UDFA RB highly.

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The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly signing undrafted rookie free agent running back Deon Jackson to the roster, and the signing bonus he received shows how much of a priority he is.

Though we thought UDFA wide receiver Tyler Vaughns out of USC was the top priority after receiving a $22,000 signing bonus from the Colts, that’s less than half of what they signed Jackson to following the draft.

>> Colts’ 2021 UDFA tracker<<

According to reporter Aaron Wilson, the Colts are giving Jackson a $45,000 signing bonus.

Despite having Jonathan Taylor leading the backfield for the foreseeable future, the Colts seem to have a lot of interest in Jackson.

The Duke product certainly is intriguing given his size and speed. At 5-foot-11 and 218 pounds, Jackson ran a 4.42 at his pro day, which was good for an elite speed grade and helped him record an 8.94 RAS.

(Courtesy of Kent Lee Platte)

The Colts were potentially thought to draft a running back on Day 3 given the fact that Nyheim Hines, Marlon Mack and Jordan Wilkins are all set to be free agents in 2022—with Hines being the only extension candidate.

So the Colts could be looking to keep Jackson on the practice squad throughout the 2021 season, developing his vision and pass blocking, to potentially call him up as a depth piece in 2022.

Regardless, the financial commitment the Colts made to Jackson shows a prospect that they value highly even if they didn’t spend a draft pick on him.

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Tale of the Tape: Leading Rushers – Kyren Williams vs. Deon Jackson

As a freshman, Kyren Williams had limited opportunities to show himself off in game action.

As a freshman, Kyren Williams had limited opportunities to show himself off in game action. Now, in his sophomore season, Williams finds himself at the top of Notre Dame’s depth chart. With little for outsiders to go on, they can only guess what he’ll bring to the Irish’s offense. And at least for Saturday’s game, he might be able to get something out of watching his seasoned counterpart: Duke senior Deon Jackson.

Though Jackson has far more experience than Williams, he didn’t have numbers that wowed anybody in 2019. In fact, they were down from his previous season. Getting off to a good start in his final season won’t be easy against an Irish defense that has high hopes. He might have to wait another week for the game that forces people to pay attention to him.

So between one inexperienced running back and one who’s decent at best, Notre Dame-Duke might not be the best game to watch if you want a sustained ground game. But if you’re a fan of matchups where one player has seen the field a lot more, this could interest you. It all depends on what you look for in a football game.