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Stock rises in senior receiver |
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
DeSean Jackson, Limas Sweed and Mario Manningham were wide receivers thought to have great showings at the NFL Combine.
However, the receiver who stole the show was Appalachian State University’s Dexter Jackson.
Jackson, the lone Mountaineer invited, had one of the fastest times in the 40-yard dash. Timed manually, he ran at a time of 4.27. With the use of electronics, Jackson recorded the fourth best time for wide receivers at 4.37.
The 40-yard dash was not the only area in which Jackson excelled.
In two other drills, the three-cone shuttle and 60-yard shuttle, Jackson finished in the top five of his
position.
On ESPN’s SportsCenter, draft expert Todd McShay picked Jackson as one player to have a good
combine.
When asked who he picked to run the fastest 40-yard dash, McShay said, “Don’t be surprised to see
Dexter Jackson of Appalachian State turn some heads.”
He did just that.
However, the combine was not Jackson’s coming out party.
After last season’s 49-21 defeat of the University of Delaware in the national championship, he got
invites to the East-West Shrine Game and landed a spot in the Senior Bowl.
His performances in practice and these games caused him to stand out against prospects initially rated
higher than him.
That speaks volumes for a school in the Football Championship Subdivision.
As students and fans of ASU, we have to remember we cannot compare to the talent at the University
of Texas or the University of Florida.
Schools like these annually put five or more guys in the NFL every year.
If you want to count the number of former Mountaineers currently in the NFL, you could use one hand -
Dexter Coakley, Jason Hunter, Daniel Wilcox and Marques Murrell.
Out of those four, only Coakley was drafted. The rest were signed as undrafted free agents. Coakley
was drafted in the third round in 1997, the second highest ever by a Mountaineer.
To think, Jackson could join that list is amazing in itself. There is no telling what round he could go in
or where he could go.
Scouts are already starting to move him up the list. Early on, it was predicted he could be a second
day pick. After his combine workout, he slid up boards to being a potential late first day pick.
There is even one Web site that thinks Jackson is a first round pick.
According the bleacherreport.com’s 2008 Mock Draft, he will be selected 29th overall by the San
Francisco 49ers.
Really? It would be amazing if he went in the first round.
But come on now, we have to be realistic.
He lacks the size to be an everyday receiver in the NFL, which prospects like Sweed or DeSean
Jackson possess. It is the major drawback and the reason why he will be picked likely in the third
round.
His speed makes the scouts drool. They saw his performance against the University of Michigan and
had been scouting him since then. He could potentially be the next Devin Hester who plays for the
Chicago Bears. That may be his way to make it in the NFL to start.
Wherever he ends up, it will be something everyone is paying attention to now - not just people on the
mountain. One game in early September 2007 changed all that.
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