D'Marco

Jackson

Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the deal is worth “up to” $10.5 million. Jackson was drafted by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was cut just before the final year of his rookie deal and the Bears claimed him off waivers. Jackson went on to appear in 16 games for Chicago. He totaled 43 combined tackles, one sack, and one interception. Jackson played over 250 snaps on defense and special teams each. He is now under contract through 2027.

Jackson (6’1/233) emerged in 2020, leading the team with 91 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, eight PBUs, and two interceptions while receiving second-team All-Sun Belt accolades. His best season was last year when he posted an incredible 120 tackles, 21 pressures, 19.0 TFLs, six sacks, and six PBUs, earning the SBC Defensive Player of the Year Award. Jackson is exceptionally fast, running a 94th percentile 4.55 40 with a 10-yard split of 1.46. His rock-solid 8.29 relative athletic score shows the sideline-to-sideline ability and burst he displayed on tape, but he is small for the position and gets swallowed up by long-armed blockers. Though he was wildly productive in college, he tends to over pursue and vacate gap responsibilities trying to make splash plays, as his career 18% missed tackle rate shows. While his special teams acumen will likely get him a long look in training camp, Jackson might simply be too small to play linebacker in the NFL and has shades of Duke Riley to his game.