Rams Film Room: Warren Jackson has a chance to be elite at the next level

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Good luck.

With Warren Jackson deciding to return for his senior season, my only advice to defensive backs around the Mountain West is you better eat your Wheaties when the Rams come to town.

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound, wide receiver out of Mission Hills, California has already proven that he’s a force to be reckoned with on the outside. With NFL aspirations and a desire to take Colorado State football back to the postseason, though, Jackson seems poised for a monster year.

The Basics

As a junior Jackson lost his starting quarterback for the year in Week 3 and missed two games with a shoulder injury. Even so, he still averaged 112 receiving yards per game and led all Rams pass catchers in total receptions (77), yards (1119) and touchdowns (8).

Things will certainly be a little different this fall with Steve Addazio running the show and Joey Lynch calling the plays — Jackson has only ever played for Mike Bobo, who was essentially the head coach and offensive coordinator.

That said, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that getting Jackson involved should be a top priority for the offense. And despite the initial perception being that ‘Wide Receiver U’ would take a step back, both Addazio and Lynch have made it clear that they intend to take advantage of the talent CSU has on the outside.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what makes Jackson so dangerous.

Scouting Report

The first thing that jumps out about Jackson is his size, strength and athleticism.

Jackson is listed at a lean 215 pounds but the dude is nothing but muscle and looks like he should be dunking with David Roddy on the basketball court. Along with great strength and size, though, what makes Jackson such a handful is how well he moves for someone so large.

Look at the way Jackson is able to sell the defensive back with the inside move before pivoting and going hard to the corner. By the time Delrick Abrams Jr. is able to recover, it’s too late because Jackson established himself in a way that allows him to use his frame to shield off the defender and high point the football.

For a guy that is 6-foot-6 to be able to swing his hips so fluidly and sell the defender like this is extremely rare. And this play demonstrates just how crafty Jackson is.

On this play against Fresno State, Jackson sells the defensive back on the out route before turning on the jets and getting downfield. With a full two steps on his defender, all the quarterback has to do is put the ball in a place where Jackson can go up and get it before the safety is able to come over to provide help.

In the same game against Fresno State, Jackson showed that he’s not just a deep threat or a guy that can only beat you over the top.

Jackson caught the ball on the move with about three feet between him and the sideline. Not only was Jackson able to stay in bounds and cut upfield — but if you look closely you’ll see that he hit the safety with a little hesitation move at about the 5-yard line and nearly managed to carry the trailing DB into the end zone to boot.

Jackson’s abilities after the catch were also on full display in the season finale against Boise State. After catching the ball at about the 3-yard line, Jackson was able to absorb the contact from two crashing defensive backs, keep his legs churning and power his way into the end zone.

Of course, who could forget when Jackson managed to catch the football in the middle of three New Mexico defenders and proceed to house it for an 87-yard touchdown? On this particular play Jackson was simply the best athlete on the field and everyone else was just trying to keep up.

Or one of my personal favorites — when the Toledo defensive backs were just trying to slow Jackson down and he was out there making them all look silly.

If you haven’t gotten the point by now, it’s that Jackson is a bad, bad man, ya’ll. (*Use your best Stephen A. Smith impression). And if you don’t bring him down right away, he’s definitely going to make you pay for it.

NFL Comparison

Jackson was often overshadowed by a talented group of receivers during his first two years on campus. In 2017 alone, Michael Gallup, Bisi Johnson, Preston Williams and Jackson could all be found in CSU’s wide receiver room. The funny thing is that when it’s all said and done, Jackson very well may be more successful than any of them at the next level.

Much like A.J. Green, Jackson has a lethal combination of size and agility. He’s big enough that most corners are really going to struggle with him in one-on-ones. But he’s also quick and agile enough to burn the bigger, more physical defenders.

When you factor in Jackson’s absurd catch radius and ability to make contested catches look easy, Green seems like the perfect comparison — especially in red-zone situations, where both guys are damn near impossible to guard.

On this play against New Mexico, the Lobos cornerback attempted to jam Jackson at the line of scrimmage but didn’t even remotely slow him down. Once Jackson has a step on the corner, it’s over for the defense.

This play up in Laramie, Wyoming is another great example of what makes Jackson so hard to handle in the red zone.

Jackson makes the Wyoming DB think he’s fading to the corner of the end zone, where his size would give him a massive advantage. Instead of throwing the ball up, though, Patrick O’Brien puts the ball right on Jackson’s back shoulder and No. 9 turns for the easy touchdown grab.

It wasn’t bad coverage — just a great play by a quarterback and receiver on the same page.

If you look back, CSU basically ran the same play for the game-winning touchdown at Fresno State last October. The coverage wasn’t as strong as Wyoming’s but the defensive back is pretty much in position. Jackson is just the better playmaker.

As we have said all along, Jackson isn’t just dangerous in the red zone. His ability to fight through tight coverage and catch any ball makes him a threat all over the field. In the State Pride game versus UNLV last season, Jackson was blanketed on this route but it didn’t matter because he caught it anyways.

In the Boise State game, Jackson was covered well on this route but once again it didn’t matter — the elite wideout was able to adjust his body, fight through the contact and bring in a highly contested catch.

Again, he’s a bad, bad man, ya’ll.

Final Thoughts

Regardless of what kind of numbers Jackson puts up this season, he’s already shown enough to catch the attention of NFL scouts. At this point, it’s really just a matter of how high in the draft he ends up going.

With another 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Jackson play his way into the top-64 picks. Some of that will depend on how deep next year’s wide receiver group is but with everything we’ve already laid out and CSU’s reputation for producing quality pro receivers, Jackson can pretty much control his own destiny as long as he stays healthy.

Everyone in Fort Collins knows how special Jackson can be. It’s time for him to go ball out and secure the bag.

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