Landon Jackson ready to take next step with Razorbacks
Arkansas junior defensive end Landon Jackson was the first name out of head coach Sam Pittman's mouth when he was talking about the team's first scrimmage of the spring.
Pittman said he thought Jackson had "as good a day as he's had since he's been here" coming off the edge for the Razorbacks.
Jackson transferred in from LSU prior to the 2022 season and he was still recovering from a torn ACL at the time, which seemed to have set back his ability to make a big impact for Arkansas.
"I think if you look back, Landon had come off an ACL," Pittman said Tuesday. "He was tall and thin. I mean, he was skinny. He was playing about three quarter speed and he got a little bit better as the year went on.
"Now he’s bigger, confident, long. He’s a problem, now. A good problem. He’s on our team, but he’s a problem if you’re an offensive lineman. It’s just his speed and his size right now that…I mean, he’s been hard to block."
Jackson, who now checks in at 6-foot-7, 269 pounds, said Thursday that he agrees with the Head Hog's assessment that he was playing at about 75% at the begging of last season.
"I definitely agree with that," Jackson said. "I feel like once the bowl game came around I got a lot more confident in my abilities, in the knee, in the playbook. (Arkansas was) just getting a more confident football player all around, and I feel like that’s allowing me to finally play like I know I can play."
A former four-star prospect out of Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas, Jackson recorded 23 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble during his sophomore campaign last year.
This year, he seems primed to live up to the four-star rating he was given out of high school. Super senior linebacker Antonio Grier had plenty of good things to say about Jackson on Thursday.
"I’m going to give him his props," Grier said. "I’m going to give him his flowers. I’m going to give my man his flowers. He a dog, man. I ain’t going to lie to you, he a dog...Like he told y’all they moved him in to 3-tech.
"Ain’t nothing changed. Ain’t nothing changed. He’s that same dog as he is in here. He’s got like a different motor to him. ‘Cause he made his mind up. He wants to go to the next level, dog. I stand behind that."
The Razorbacks will hold their annual Red-White game Saturday at noon CT inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.