Much has been said about Arkansas defensive lineman Landon Jackson after his return to the Razorbacks for the 2024 season, but he said Wednesday that he's not paying any mind to it.
So far this year, Jackson has been named to the preseason All-SEC Second Team by the media, put on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List and was added to Bruce Feldman's "College Football Freaks" list as well, due to his size and speed.
Heading into his fourth season in college and his third in Fayetteville, Jackson's mindset has been to block out the preseason award watch lists and hype he's drawn following a successful 2023 campaign with Arkansas.
"I try not to look at it, I try to stay away from it," Jackson said of the hype. "Especially once we get into fall camp, I stay off the media because all it does is ... when things are good, everyone's loving you, but the slightest thing goes bad, you got to keep your head out of the media. Because you'll see one bad thing, and one bad thing is almost equivalent to seeing one good thing."
Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams came to Fayetteville in 2022 weeks after Jackson committed out of the transfer portal from LSU. The jump Jackson has made from then to now has been something Adams said he didn't expect.
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"My biggest questions when I first got here, because he was just coming off an injury, my biggest question was how physical was he going to be?" Adams said Wednesday. "Because I had never seen him play. Here’s this big kid. He’s long. Is he going to play physical? That question was answered, like, immediately when he got on the field.
"There’s no doubt about it. The progress that he’s made from the time he walked in the door until now, it’s been great, and it’s just getting better and better every day we go out."
Adams added that the 6-foot-7, 280-pound native of Texarkana, Texas, isn't letting anything get to his head.
"All this publicity and stuff he’s getting right now, it’s not going to his head or anything, and I don’t allow it for those guys anyway," Adams said, "I’m quick to tell them, 'the same guys that are quick to lift you up are the same guys ... they’re going to cut you down when you’re not playing the way they think you are, so don’t listen to all that stuff and just play.'"
The former four-star recruit out of Pleasant Grove High School finished the 2023 season with 6.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. at one point had him rated as one of the top defensive linemen in the class, but Jackson chose to return for his fourth season of college football.
"It was huge for me," Adams said of Jackson's return. "We had a conversation, I think he wanted to come back to reach some goals. He's such a good kid, a young man. I'm expecting a lot from him. He knows he has things he wants to get done."
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Still in fall camp, Jackson knows there's more work that he has to do if he wants to hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft. Part of that is working on his game, but it's also about being a leader for the entire team.
“I’d like to get better with my counter moves in the pass rush, also my transition from run to pass," Jackson said. "Also being a better leader for the defense and moreso with the team. I think last year I was a good leader with the front seven. I only really focused on the front seven.
"Never really went over to the offensive side to keep them up and now I do all that I can to push them as well. I’ve been trying to build a lot of relationships with the offensive guys. Getting close with the DBs. Really just being a leader of the team.”
The Razorbacks will hold their first closed scrimmage of fall camp Thursday in preparation for the season opener against UAPB at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Aug. 29. Be sure to stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest in Arkansas football news.
