FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Defenders around the league can take a collective deep breath. Warren Jackson, the 2020 Mountain West Offensive Preseason Player of the Year, has decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and will declare for the NFL Draft instead.
The often-unguardable wide receiver had originally intended to play his senior season. “I want to win a Mountain West Championship with this team and I think we can do it,” Jackson said in May. But with so much uncertainty surrounding the 2020 football season, No. 9 is now, understandably, choosing to focus on his professional career.
“To my family, my teammates, coaches, staff, and the fans, thank you for the love and passion you have shown me during my time wearing the green and gold,” Jackson said, in a statement posted via his social media pages. “It has been an honor to play alongside you, play for you, and represent our university over the years. I have grown so much as a man and as a football player during my time in Fort Collins, and for that, I will be forever grateful.”
While many, including myself, are rooting for the possibility of a spring football season, the reality is someone like Jackson had a lot more to risk than gain by playing in it. Jackson’s film already shows he can play at the next level. So, really, along with pride for the program, the biggest reason Jackson was coming back was to try to rise up the draft boards.
With COVID-19 throwing a wrench into the Mountain West’s fall slate, though, the risk of injury makes a spring season not worth it for a player that’s already shown he can play in ‘the league’ — not with almost no recovery time before he would have to potentially participate in the NFL Combine, Rookie Mini Camp, etc.
Even if Jackson’s decision makes all the sense in the world, it’s still a gut punch to the CSU diehards. Due to COVID-19 the Ram faithful are already missing out on the first home game versus Colorado since 1996, a pair of winnable games against two other Power 5 opponents, a showdown with Ed McCaffrey’s UNC Bears, conference trips to Las Vegas as well as San Diego, and a Halloween Border War matchup at Canvas Stadium. Now for the cherry on top, they’re also losing out on one last ride with one of the more popular players in recent history.
“From day one, Warren Jackson has been all about this football team and developing his game for the next level,” said head coach Steve Addazio via press release. “He has been the type of leader you want to see from your most talented players. With the postponement of the season, Warren expressed a desire to begin training for his NFL future, and we fully support him in that decision.”
In total, Jackson played in 33 games over the last three seasons. During his impressive collegiate career, Jackson racked up 1,789 yards on 124 receptions and 14 touchdowns. As a junior in 2019, the 6-foot-6, 219-pound wide-out led the squad in receptions (77), receiving yards (1,119) and receiving touchdowns (eight) — even after missing two games due to an upper body injury.
While it’s tough to predict where Jackson will go in what is projecting to be a deep 2021 class of wide receivers, the good folks of Fort Collins know that he is destined for greatness no matter where he ends up.
Who’s Next?
With Warren Jackson leaving school early and joining what is already a talented group of ‘Next Level Rams’, the biggest question many fans now have is how will his departure impact the offense?
Simply put, it hurts… a lot.
For starters, Jackson is damn near impossible to cover in a one-on-one matchup. So, just by being out on the field, No. 9 is frequently commanding the attention of multiple opposing defenders. That’s pretty invaluable for a team with a new offensive system and a first-year staff.
From a production standpoint, Jackson’s numbers say it all. And from a leadership perspective, Jackson has always had a team-first mindset — something that is increasingly rare in the modern era.
While it will be incredibly tough to make up for Jackson’s impact, the encouraging thing is that the Rams will still have an impressive receiving corps.
Dante Wright was a human highlight reel as a true freshman. He should see his targets increase without Jackson on the other side.
Auburn-transfer Nate Craig-Myers should see an increase in his role within the offense as well. Myers’ chemistry with Patrick O’Brien flashed in a couple of games back in 2019 — and without Jackson, the Rams are now going to need another consistent target for the red zone.
E.J. Scott (redshirt junior), A’Jon Vivens (redshirt sophomore) and Ty McCullough (sophomore) are all veterans that could logically get more reps. Of the three, Scott produced the most last fall but they’re all talented enough to make an impact when healthy.
The redshirt freshmen, Jeremiah Pruitte and Jaylen Hearst, are also intriguing young prospects. Purely from a size standpoint, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Pruitte seems like he could be a game-changer in plus territory and situations where the Rams need to go more vertical.
Honestly, though, the players that will probably matter the most without Jackson are the starting tight ends.
Over the last half decade or so, CSU football has become famous for sending wide receivers to the NFL. But when you look at the roster right now, it really makes sense to lean on the experience of Trey McBride (junior) and Cameron Butler (senior). Both guys are absolute monsters in the trenches and also give the QB a mismatch to target in the passing game.
Plus, when you consider that Steve Addazio has been very open about wanting to run the ball more successfully, it makes sense for the Rams to frequently operate out of their 12 personnel — especially after the team’s most experienced fullback transferred to Arkansas and their best blocking wide receiver declared for the NFL Draft.
Look for guys like McBride and Butler to see a lot of action whenever the Rams return to the field. Corte Tapia (redshirt junior), Kyle Helbig (redshirt freshman) and Gary Williams (redshirt sophomore) are all tight ends to keep an eye on as well.
Much like how the Oakland Athletics general manager, Billy Beane, had to use a plethora of players to replace the production of Johnny Damon, Jason Isringhausen, and Jason Giambi back in the day, the Rams are now going to have to rely on an entire group of pass-catchers to make up for the things Jackson did on a weekly basis.
Alas, the Rams will be okay in the end. It’s just going to take a village to make up for the loss of a truly elite player.
