The 2024 NFL Draft is here, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Khyree Jackson.
Khyree Jackson'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6-foot-3 3/4
- Weight: 194
- 40-yard dash: 4.5
- 10-yard split: 1.50
- Vertical jump: 37"
- Broad jump: 11-foot-1
- Arm: 32 3/4"
- Winspan: 78""
Khyree Jackson 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS
- Rare size for an outside corner with the physical and athletic traits to play press-man coverage at a high level
- Long strider who covered ground quickly and easily in zone coverage and could close windows with his length
- Showed patience and poise in press-man coverage due to good knee bend and balance; controlled and measured
- Strong snaps of mirror match press-man coverage, locking onto a receiver and staying in phase throughout the route
- Stride length and play speed were big factors when he was beaten off the ball in press man as he showed recovery ability
- Did a good job in mirror match press-man, getting his head around and locating-tracking the ball on vertical routes
- Showed balance and body control to stop and re-direct at the top of receiver route stem, and could sink and transition
- A strong tackler who was willing to play physically, he consistently showed excellent run support on the outside.
WEAKNESSES
- While smooth and fluid in his movement, he is not a high-level change-of-direction athlete; long and high-cut
- Sticky and segmented at times while opening hips transitioning in press coverage; did not always look comfortable
- At times some balance and body-control issues with his jam in a physical press when he overextended with his strike
- Could be a little sticky and segmented while opening his hips and transitioning in off coverage, and at times too upright
- Some issues in off coverage staying connected at the top of the route stem and lost contact with the receiver
- Despite his size and stride length will top-end speed be a concern? Can he run and stay connected to deep routes?
- More comfortable at this point playing press-man than off coverage; his high cut limits transitions from backpedal
NFL TRANSITION
Jackson is one of the most intriguing outside corner prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft due to his outstanding length at almost 6-foot-4 with long arms and a wide wingspan and his ability to play and experience in press-man coverage.
Jackson played a lot of press-man coverage in Oregon’s defense, and his ability to play physical press and mirror-match press with the stride length, play speed, ball location and ball tracking consistently stood out on film. Jackson was competitive in press man and he not only played vertical throws effectively but also showed the balance and short-area quickness and body control to sink and stop to play shorter and intermediate routes.
What consistently stood out about Jackson was how physical he was in coverage, staying in phase throughout the route with the length and play speed to carry receivers vertically. Jackson at this point is a press-man corner much more so than an off-coverage corner. His hip tightness and segmented transitions more consistently showed up in the latter. He has the confidence to play mirror match and with targeted physicality, and he would project and transition best to a team that features press as a foundation of its coverage concepts.
Jackson could fit the profile of an NFL boundary corner tasked with matching the boundary X wide receivers, and that is a critical corner position given the proliferation of 3x1 sets with the best wide receiver aligning to the boundary side of the formation. There will be a learning curve because the quality of NFL wide receivers is far better than what Jackson faced in the Pac-12, but he has the physical and athletic traits to become a quality press corner.
OTHER NOTES
Jackson’s college career began at Fort Scott Community College before spending two seasons at Alabama and ending his career with one season at Oregon. Jackson only started 14 games in his college career.
He lined up at the right and left corner with extensive experience playing to the field and the boundary. At times when he was aligned to the boundary he was deployed as a blitzer. Jackson lined up almost exclusively outside in 2023, with only about 20 snaps in the slot.
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