Good Write-Up On Nick Jackson

[rrk77]

He and his family appear to have their heads on straight. He didn’t leave UVA because of animosity (and is also making a great move by finishing his degree there). He left to spend his final year of eligibility at Iowa, a program with superior defensive coaches and reputation, plus a better shot at the NFL. :

Tales of the transfer portal: Degree in hand, this Virginia player is headed out of state for a fifth year of football

Nick Jackson wasn't unhappy but he felt that a year at Iowa would give him a better shot at the NFL.

cardinalnews.org

 

[NevadaHawk]

I have a really good feeling about Nick. I believe he is going to fit right into our scheme and perform at a high level.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

He and his family appear to have their heads on straight. He didn’t leave UVA because of animosity (and is also making a great move by finishing his degree there). He left to spend his final year of eligibility at Iowa, a program with superior defensive coaches and reputation, plus a better shot at the NFL. :

Tales of the transfer portal: Degree in hand, this Virginia player is headed out of state for a fifth year of football

Nick Jackson wasn't unhappy but he felt that a year at Iowa would give him a better shot at the NFL.

cardinalnews.org

When Nick initially seemed destined to land at Iowa ... I was presuming that he'd end up at MLB (MIKE LB).

However, the more I think about ... I come back to the thinking that he came to Iowa to help his NFL-stock and overall football development. When I think about it more along these lines ... I would surmise that he'd be coming Iowa to expand his horizons as much as to keep on retreading the same ground. Why is this important?

For those who have been paying attention, Coach Wallace has been embracing a philosophy that has been somewhat akin to what Coach Bell has been doing on the DL. Namely, he's endeavoring to build interchangeability among his personnel. The objective here isn't to build generalists ... but it's also NOT to build over-specialists either. We'd be in danger if our D was dependent too much on guys who over-specialized ... the problem would be one of sustainability.

To be honest, a long standing problem with our D before was our reliance on the LEO (our OLB) ... a critical cog for the D ... but one that was hard to regularly fill.

Anyhow, Wallace has been having guys building aptitude and fluency with the responsibility of all 3 spots ... and that both grows their football IQ ... but it also helps in terms of depth and overall quality of execution.

My ultimate point here being that I'm starting to not discount the possibility that Nick could end up lining up at any on of our 3 LB spots. I think that it is probably equally likely that either Higgins or Jackson ends up winning the MLB spot. However, just like we saw from Benson last season ... Benson was a starting MLB in '20. In '21, Benson slid over to WILL. Then, in '22, Benson initially played at WILL ... but due to the injury to Jacobs ... he ultimately end up playing A LOT at LEO.

I'll be very curious to see how our LB situation ends up shaking out.

 

[iowahaha1]

good find rrk

 

[dbrocket]

When Nick initially seemed destined to land at Iowa ... I was presuming that he'd end up at MLB (MIKE LB).

However, the more I think about ... I come back to the thinking that he came to Iowa to help his NFL-stock and overall football development. When I think about it more along these lines ... I would surmise that he'd be coming Iowa to expand his horizons as much as to keep on retreading the same ground. Why is this important?

For those who have been paying attention, Coach Wallace has been embracing a philosophy that has been somewhat akin to what Coach Bell has been doing on the DL. Namely, he's endeavoring to build interchangeability among his personnel. The objective here isn't to build generalists ... but it's also NOT to build over-specialists either. We'd be in danger if our D was dependent too much on guys who over-specialized ... the problem would be one of sustainability.

To be honest, a long standing problem with our D before was our reliance on the LEO (our OLB) ... a critical cog for the D ... but one that was hard to regularly fill.

Anyhow, Wallace has been having guys building aptitude and fluency with the responsibility of all 3 spots ... and that both grows their football IQ ... but it also helps in terms of depth and overall quality of execution.

My ultimate point here being that I'm starting to not discount the possibility that Nick could end up lining up at any on of our 3 LB spots. I think that it is probably equally likely that either Higgins or Jackson ends up winning the MLB spot. However, just like we saw from Benson last season ... Benson was a starting MLB in '20. In '21, Benson slid over to WILL. Then, in '22, Benson initially played at WILL ... but due to the injury to Jacobs ... he ultimately end up playing A LOT at LEO.

I'll be very curious to see how our LB situation ends up shaking out.

I think he ends up at WILL, because Higgins is also very good and has been in our system for like 4 years. He should know our defense better than someone (even an experienced someone) who will arrive in the Summer.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I think he ends up at WILL, because Higgins is also very good and has been in our system for like 4 years. He should know our defense better than someone (even an experienced someone) who will arrive in the Summer.

I'd assume you're probably correct. However, Nick is also a guy who is used to running the show for 3 years in a row. Thus, he's probably pretty quick about identifying Os and is capable of lining up the DL.

However, as you indicate ... he'll still need to learn our D and make sure he can execute his responsibility.

 

[pistachio1999]

Amazing we got the leader for our offense and the leader for our defense through the portal. These two will be captains (Cade and Nick).

 

[kceasthawk]

Amazing we got the leader for our offense and the leader for our defense through the portal. These two will be captains (Cade and Nick).

I don't know that he'll be a defensive captain. I would think, Shannon, Lee, Higgins, or even CDJ would be more likely candidates and certainly deserving....

 

[pistachio1999]

I don't know that he'll be a defensive captain. I would think, Shannon, Lee, Higgins, or even CDJ would be more likely candidates and certainly deserving....

Regardless he will be the leader of the defense.

 

[kceasthawk]

Regardless he will be the leader of the defense.

Remains to be seen. Maybe J Higg assumes the role he's been groomed for the last couple of years.....

 

[Bishop1971]

It's a good thing Jackson is a natural leader. I think he'll be one here at Iowa. Can never have to many guys like that, especially how ours seem to be spread through the different units. From db's, lb's, and dline.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

It's a good thing Jackson is a natural leader. I think he'll be one here at Iowa. Can never have to many guys like that, especially how ours seem to be spread through the different units. From db's, lb's, and dline.

Agreed!

The more leadership that Iowa can muster from its guys on D ... the greater the likelihood that the D will BOTH play at a high level AND be able to adapt to whatever adversity might come their way.

Usually the most telling thing about a team isn't its innate ability ... but how they respond to challenges and adversity.

 

[Bishop1971]

Agreed!

The more leadership that Iowa can muster from its guys on D ... the greater the likelihood that the D will BOTH play at a high level AND be able to adapt to whatever adversity might come their way.

Usually the most telling thing about a team isn't its innate ability ... but how they respond to challenges and adversity.

Agree 100%. With those leaders in place and at different units within the defense it's a sort of protection from a meltdown at any particular spot. Also hear good things about Schulte being a calm sort of guy. Also hear that x man is vocal and really ahead of the game for his experience. That 5 star rating seems to cover more in his case than just ability but also high football IQ.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Watched some Nick Jackson Virginia games recently.
- he plays pretty fast ... not a lot of hesitation there
- he's looks pretty good on blitzes
- he's pretty good at recognition of routes ... I liked seeing him run out well in coverage
- I don't know if it is a fundamentals thing ... but he was letting himself get caught in the wash quite a bit. Would run into blocks some ... and not necessarily maintain leverage.

I'm not sure every time what his assignment was so I don't know if some of the times he was caught in the wash because he was trying to fill a gap ... OR just because his DL sucks compared to Iowa's DL.

Anyhow, I hope he comes to Iowa with the expectation that he has some learning to do. I definitely saw a young man with A LOT of positive attributes ... but I also saw a young man with a lot to improve upon too. I'd hope/assume that that is likely the reason why he chose the Hawks.

 

[kceasthawk]

Watched some Nick Jackson Virginia games recently.
- he plays pretty fast ... not a lot of hesitation there
- he's looks pretty good on blitzes
- he's pretty good at recognition of routes ... I liked seeing him run out well in coverage
- I don't know if it is a fundamentals thing ... but he was letting himself get caught in the wash quite a bit. Would run into blocks some ... and not necessarily maintain leverage.

I'm not sure every time what his assignment was so I don't know if some of the times he was caught in the wash because he was trying to fill a gap ... OR just because his DL sucks compared to Iowa's DL.

Anyhow, I hope he comes to Iowa with the expectation that he has some learning to do. I definitely saw a young man with A LOT of positive attributes ... but I also saw a young man with a lot to improve upon too. I'd hope/assume that that is likely the reason why he chose the Hawks.

Good points Ghost. Iowa's DL play is designed to do just what you implied and keep the LB's "clean" to make the stops. One of the reasons that our Mike especially is generally near the top of the conference in tackles. By design, and yet it takes an athlete who can get to those spots, and then make the play. Campbell like Jewell, and Angerer before him was instinctive and could read the plays almost before the ball was snapped. He was also the best Mike we've had at his coverage drops in the middle zone because of his ability to read his keys and his length.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Good points Ghost. Iowa's DL play is designed to do just what you implied and keep the LB's "clean" to make the stops. One of the reasons that our Mike especially is generally near the top of the conference in tackles. By design, and yet it takes an athlete who can get to those spots, and then make the play. Campbell like Jewell, and Angerer before him was instinctive and could read the plays almost before the ball was snapped. He was also the best Mike we've had at his coverage drops in the middle zone because of his ability to read his keys and his length.

Campbell's evolution was fun to watch. If you look back to '21 ... some of his pass-drops were a little shallow. All the same, his length could still make it tough to pass over (after all, that was a season where we netted something like 25 ints). Anyhow, you look at Jack's pass-drops in '22 ... way better. Most teams shied away from even trying to pass over the middle.