Lions address safety depth issues with Georgia's Dan Jackson, where he's going to do the most damage right away
The Detroit Lions have been having quite the draft buolding up th etrenches and helping out at receiver. The one spot we've been waiting to hear on is safety. Wait no more, the Lions have taken Georgia safety Dan Jackson with the 230th pick. Jackson is coming off a strong season with 53 tackles, a […]
The Detroit Lions have been having quite the draft buolding up th etrenches and helping out at receiver. The one spot we've been waiting to hear on is safety. Wait no more, the Lions have taken Georgia safety Dan Jackson with the 230th pick.
Jackson is coming off a strong season with 53 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, and two pass breakups. He's played at both the free safety and safety spots.
The Athletic's Dane Brugler had Jackson ranked as his 16th-best safety in the draft in his scouting guide The Beast. Here's what he had to say about Jackson:
"A one-year starter at Georgia, Jackson was a versatile safety in head coach Kirby Smart’s scheme, lining up in two-high and in middle-field cheat coverage. Despite not being recruited by the Bulldogs, he earned his way as a walk-on and played six seasons without a football scholarship, becoming an impactful starter in 2024 (Smart admits they “lucked into” having him).
When he keeps the play in front of him, Jackson reacts without hesitation and closes with an extra gear to explode through contact. Though the highlights are fireworks, he also has reckless tendencies because of his aggressive play style. He must introduce more discipline into his tackling process. Overall, Jackson doesn’t have the high-end coverage skills desired at the position, but he is instinctive, tough and determined, and his stopwatch speed shows when working downhill. At the very least, his special teams impact will make it tough for an NFL coaching staff to cut him."
As we know, the Lions love special-teams guys who can make a big difference. They see it as a very important phase of their game. That's where Jackson is going to make his money. He'll have to come in and compete with Loren Strickland and Morcie Norris, who also want to get a spot going that route. We'll see what happens.
The Lions find their next Ezekiel Ansah in the 2025 NFL Draft with selection of Ahmed Hassanein
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