As seen on this site and on the field, the 3-4 defense heavily focuses on the nose tackles and rushing outside linebackers. However, the 3-4 defensive ends allow for those pass rushers to run free, and still produce stats every game. Jackson is by far the best 3-4 end in this draft, and should be in high demand come draft day.
It's strange to see a player's stats, especially on defense, drop drastically from one year to another. Jackson looked like a possible Top 5 pick after his sophomore campaign when he finished with 13 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks. However, his stats fell off from that tremendous year, but not to disappointing levels. He went on to have 4 and 4.5 sacks the next two seasons, and finished his career with over 120 tackles and almost 20 sacks in three years as a starter.

Strengths:
Jackson's bull rush and great hand usage makes him a great power defensive end. He has great leg drive and powerful arms, and usually gets the first push off the line. Most of the time, he can get a left or right tackle off balance to start and rarely loses precious position. Jackson has lots of experience using his power rush techniques, and did a great job in college of opening up blitzing lanes for his backers.

Weaknesses:
Jackson doesn't have the elite speed off the edge that most fans and 4-3 teams crave. He won't be able to get around the quicker offensive lineman, and will be limited in his quick pass rushing in the pros. Jackson also isn't great in run support, as he isn't a consistent open field tackler and also doesn't have great run awareness.

Jackson is the ideal fit for a 3-4 defense at the end position, but could realistically play a strong side end in a hybrid scheme. Jackson was fairly productive for his power, tough style of play in the always rugged SEC, which means it could translate into NFL success. Because he is such a perfect fit and most of his awareness problems can be corrected with NFL play, he should be highly valued in the middle of the 1st round, with him definitely not passing Titans at the end of the round.

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