Relentless.
Landon Jackson is a natural, relentless DE prospect. When you listen to Brandon Beane talk about him, you get the sense that he was amazed Landon made it back to him at all in the third round, and it’s easy to see why. Jackson checked every box in the pre-Draft process, including hosting the Bills’ brass at the Arkansas pro day and meeting with them at the Combine.
His athleticism is off the charts. Standing at 6’7” and 280 lbs with a wingspan of 82 6/8 inches, Landon stood out as a Big Guy who can move. He posted a 4.68 forty, with a 1.65 split, underlining how his relentless motor makes up for his noticeably less explosive first step. Where he lacks in short-area quickness, he more than makes up for it in pure explosive power. Jackson demonstrated this by posting a 40.5 inch vertical leap and a 129 inch broad jump both good for the 99th percentile. His lateral mobility was also on display when he put up a 7.13 3-cone drill.
The 31st player overall on my big board, Landon projected to me as an early 2nd round pick, but stud DE’s were dropping down the board on day 2, with Princely Umanmielen also falling to round 3. Brandon Beane flexed his draft board prowess swinging a 3-3 trade where he moved up 16 spots in the 2nd round to select TJ Sanders, but also got back the 72 overall pick in the third round and used this pick to select DE Landon Jackson out of Arkansas.
Early Life and High School Career
Landon emerged onto the national scene in his freshman year in High School, helping Pleasant Grove High School win the first of their two state championships in his division in Texas during his tenure. During his career, put up an amazing 45 sacks including 17 as a Junior. Needless to say this garnered him massive national attention and he was offered by… everyone. The list is honestly too long, but when Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, and Texas lead the list of 10+schools who officially offered him, you get the scope of how much the four star prospect was sought after. He was selected as the defensive player of the year for his division in high school and was ranked as the 7th highest ranked defensive lineman prospect in the 2021 recruiting class.
During his high school career, Landon began advocating for children who suffer from Alopecia, an autoimmune reaction that causes children to lose their hair. He currently celebrates the Annual Bald is Beautiful campaign, reaching out to support alopecia sufferers and cancer patients alike.
College Career
He initially chose LSU as his landing spot in college, because of a relationship he had with Ed Orgeron. He graduated high school early and joined the team officially in January of 2021. During his Freshman year where he played special teams while learning behind Azeez Ojulari, Orgeron announced he was leaving coaching altogether and Landon entered the transfer portal.
Playing for Arkansas moved transformational for him as the Razorback coaching staff encourage him to fill out his 6’7” inch frame instead of LSU’s effort to get him to lose weight from 245 to 235. When he began his sophomore season he was already 275 and would reach his current playing weight of 280. That year he logged 23 combined tackles, including 4 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.
In his Junior year he was named 1st team all SEC following a season where he posted 44 tackles, with 14 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. His Senior season was a carbon copy where he made 49 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. He also batted down 3 passes, and forced a fumble in his senior season.
What He Brings to the Buffalo Bills
Relentless
Landon Jackson never stops moving. He plays sideline to sideline always pursuing the ball carrier whether in the backfield, sliding down the line or in the second and third levels.
Lateral Mobility
Watching Landon’s tape, it’s clear that he has worked on fundamentals in the running game as he makes a concerted effort to stay square on the line when minding his assigned gaps. This allows him to react well to ball carrier moves and prevents him from overpursuing.
Speed-To-Power
Jackson has a rare blend of speed-to-power as he appears to absorb blocking attempts from massive offensive linemen, and they appear to just slide off as he continues charging upfield. He has a good bull rush when necessary, but his pass rushing moves, including his swim and slap techniques, stand out well. Once he gets a lane, he uses that 4.68 speed to make a beeline for the QB, but at the same time does so in a controlled, disciplined way so he doesn’t overpursue and lose contain.
Block Shedding
For the second deep dive in a row, we highlight this remarkable ability to get off of blocks. Current Bills outside of Greg Rousseau all struggled with that, as they would get initial push off the snap and then just get swallowed up in a block and not be able to pursue the ball carrier effectively. Both T.J. Sanders and Landon Jackson have this uncanny ability to shift their weight just enough for the blockers force to slide off of them and just not appear to affect them. Even when Landon gets blocked, his second effort and reset allows him to pick a different gap and fire up the field. His elite processing allows him to read the offenses intentions as his ability to read option runs almost always have him following the player who got the ball.
Landon will enter into the Bills favorite defensive feature, the pass rush rotation. In an effort to keep guys fresh, the Bills don’t keep their top guys out at all times, instead rotating them in and out in situations where their skill set fits them best. He seems likely to compete with Javon Solomon for the Dawaune Smoot snaps from last year, though he could compete with AJ Epenesa for more starter snaps, if Joey Bosa takes on the role of situational pass rusher like Von Miller occupied in his first year with Buffalo. This is one of the great storylines to pay attention to in training camp, with Epenesa in the final year of his contract. Will the Bills return to the almost even split of reps at DE from 2022 (in which 5 players all played 32-44% of snaps), or will they follow the trend of last year of allowing their studs to play 55+% of snaps with situational spot rushes from the supporting players?
We’ll have to wait and see, but one thing we know, whatever Bobby Babich designs, Landon seems to be up to the task with his versatility and relentlessness.