Way out west there was this fella… fella I wanna tell ya about. Fella by the name of Giles Jackson. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. Mr. Jackson, he called himself "G." Now this here story I'm about to unfold took place in the late '10s, just about the time of our conflict with Urban and the Ohioans. I only mention it because sometimes there's a man— I won't say a hero, 'cause what's a hero? But sometimes there's a man— and I'm talkin' about G here. Sometimes there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's G, in Ann Arbor. And even if he's a speedy man— and G was most certainly that. Quite possibly the speediest in Washtenaw County, which would place him high in the runnin' for speediest worldwide. But sometimes there's a man…sometimes there's a man. Aw, I lost my train of thought here. But... aw, hell. I've done introduced him enough.

[After THE JUMP: every-snap film and scouting]

Every-Snap Film

[Jackson is #5 and usually lined up in the slot (and usually to the QB’s left). Easiest way to find him is to look for the high-cut white socks and white forearm bands. Also, the white sleeve on his left arm is longer than the one on his right.]

Scouting

The spin move to avoid pressure eight seconds in is impressive, as is the read at 00:10 where he sees that he’s going to have to get the sideline to extend the run and uncoils, standing up and noticeably elongated his strides in an effort to get to the sideline and turn before the corner (I think that’s a corner) chops him down. Doesn’t work, but a heady move and a play that shows his athleticism.

And that’s really what stands out in this tape: a wellspring of athleticism. Getting Jackson the ball in space—and the space needed for a player with his quick-twitch jukes isn’t much—is a highlight tape in the making. At 3:40 he spins away from the defense and makes them look like they’re trying to twist open a bottle after handwashing a sink full of dishes. Then Jackson does it again at 4:07. And again at 5:07, where he leaps, high-points the ball, pulls it in and secures it while his quick-twitch muscles adjust to the defense. The spin move is the icing on the elusiveness éclair. At 5:18 it looks like Jackson tries to beat the defender with a hard inside step and then a quick outside-inside slide, but the defender breaks down at the right point to be able to pull Jackson down with an arm as he’s about to escape to the inside. Then at 8:20 Jackson runs another route where he rounds off the top a bit—that showed up many times and he’ll create even more space for himself if he works on sharpening his cuts—but what happens after is special. Jackson jumps, takes a step back as he lands, throws a stiff arm, then keeps his balance and drops down as the defender tries to drag him and is able to spin out of the tackle. Then it looks to me like he jump-cuts toward the sideline to avoid a defender who’s starting to break down to hit and another who’s flying in (and ends up taking himself and the other nearest would-be tackler out of the play). From there Jackson outruns everyone to the end zone.

Jackson also showed that he can adjust to a ball outside his frame and high-point it multiple times over the course of this game, with an example at 2:30 in addition to the play at 5:07 discussed above. He rounded off the top of his route running outs to the sideline with frequency, but there’s a lot of route-running potential here. Jackson’s speed in the slot allows him to force defenders to either panic-backpedal or turn and run, which in turn creates more space for Jackson. At 3:23 he charges hard downfield and gets the defender to backpedal before smoothly turning into a curl. Jackson shows some nice route-running at 3:58, selling the fade and getting the corner to backpedal thanks to his speed and keeping his eyes downfield before gliding into a cut over the top of the zone. At 6:42 his speed on the fade pushes back the defensive back; this should get Jackson inside leverage most any time he wants it. Here he gets inside by gliding into a cut and is almost instantly past the DB and open.

As a running back, Jackson displayed good vision overall. It took a few plays to establish that, as he tries to bounce when it looked like he just needs to get north on his first carry (1:08). Jackson somewhat recovers mid-play thanks to his ability to juke his way out of a phone booth, but overall he loses a couple yards that would have been there with just a cut and not a bounce. At 5:57 he’s looking to stick a foot in the ground and get north but there’s no space to do so. Jackson bounces and arcs back before accelerating as he turns the corner—and into a hit. Jackson makes the right reads at 6:18 to get through the line, but there are three unblocked second-level defenders ready to make the stop. There’s also a really nice cut to get back inside his OT near the end of the run. By 6:51 he finds that one cut north he’s been looking for, then does the same at 7:26

Jackson did a fine job blocking as a running back and slot receiver. That’s a dang nice block on a DT who burst through the line at 1:17, and at least he’s attempting to block on the edge at 1:50. Jackson takes a second but eventually jumps in and throws a nice block at 5:28. The play at 6:26 isn’t the best blitz pickup; he might have just gotten juked, but he also might be making a business decision. Either way, the effort was there most of the time, but I think it’s clear from the film what his niche will be.

Summary

The ball is a lit match and Jackson an unvented and slowly building gas leak in (ironically enough) space. Jackson has rare balance and athleticism, which allow him to escape would-be hits with frequency. He ran a verified 4.43 40 at the Opening last summer and his excellent straight-line speed shows on fades—another asset that, paired with good route-running, will help him create space regularly as defenders have to backpedal and flip their hips or risk getting blown past. Jackson also displayed good vision as a ball-carrier thanks to a sense of where defenders were and would be in the next few seconds, and that paired well with his short-area burst and balance to generate yards after the catch or maximize yards on a carry. His leaping ability, speed, and elusiveness even in the closest quarters make his stature (5’8”, 175 lbs) irrelevant.

Jackson has a tendency to round off the top of his routes (particularly on outs), and he’ll be able to put defenders in an even more precarious position if he can learn to make sharper cuts. Despite that, I think Jackson is a prototypical slot for an offense built around a philosophy that places such weight on speed in space; he’s a fine option on handoffs as an H-back-style change of pace, but the place he’ll put the most stress on a defense is in the slot. There hasn't been a Michigan player with this much wiggle in a long time.