Syracuse Football Picks up 1st 2019 Commitment from Courtney Jackson

It took a little longer than expected, but the Syracuse football squad picked up their first 2019 commitment from Courtney Jackson.

After taking a bit longer than normal, the Syracuse football squad picked up their first commitment of the 2019 class.

Courtney Jackson, a 2019 speedster is a native of Monroeville, Pennsylvania where he stars for Gateway High School.

During his junior campaign Jackson put up some video game-like numbers catching 96 passes for 1,916 yards and finding the end zone a whopping 27 times. All indications point to Jackson being the premiere fit at wide receiver in the Dino Babers spread offense.

Although Jackson put up huge numbers in high school, he is not all that highly rated. Most recruiting sites list him as a 3-star prospect, while 247sports graded him at a 81 and the 1567th best prospect in the country. However, Jackson does have offers from many of college football’s big time programs. He received offers from the likes of Baylor, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

The Keystone state native checks in at 5-foot and 11 inches while weighing roughly 160-pounds. There is no question he is going to need to get bigger, but with time in the college weight room it won’t be that difficult. But his current size makes it interesting to see if he will project as a slot receiver or an outside receiver in Syracuse’s system.

Let’s look at the tape:

The initial play that I want to take a look at occurs at the :44 second mark on the tape. Jackson is lined up in a three receiver set to the left side of the screen. Here, he is lined up in the slot and is running what looks to be some sort of a wheel route down the sideline. Jackson displays an impressive ability to stop on a dime and he freezes his defender, then blows by him making the catch. But what was most impressive about this play and really the entire film of Jackson is his ability to finish plays. After catching the ball he knows what to do, as he makes a few people miss and dives into the end zone for six.

Wow…

The next play that caught my eye is at the 1:42 mark. Once again, Jackson is lined up in the slot, but this time he is not going to catch the ball. He comes in motion behind the quarterback and takes the pitch turning it upfield on the opposite side of the field on the end around. The man has jets, and getting him the ball in the open field is a recipe for success, something the Syracuse coaches will look to do once he is on the hill.

Lastly, Jackson is lined up in the slot at the 5:55 mark of the film. On this play he shows off his ability to get open and his route running in the open field. He makes a nice cut in the front of the end zone breaking to the sideline and dusting his man. Then all he has to do was get his feet in bounds to complete the catch. This was something Erv Philips was extremely good at while he was at Syracuse. He had the ability to get open in the end zone, for guys under 6-feet that is rare.

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Based off of the film I would say Jackson definitely projects as a slot receiver, but if he were to grow a few inches and put on a few pounds you could see him on the outside.