Darrell Jackson Jr. Would Be Minnesota's "Incredible Bulk"

“Top 30” visits need a bit of a rebrand. The name “Top 30” implies that the players NFL teams are bringing in on these visits are near the top of their board, or are at all likely to be taken in the top 30 picks of the NFL Draft. That’s a pretty confusing misnomer. Still, bringing in Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. feels significant.

NFL teams use these visits to get a guy in their building, talk to him, and get a closer look at his medicals and personality on and off the field. Looking only at Minnesota’s Top 30 visits, not a single one is considered to go earlier than a mid-Day 2 selection by consensus. The highest-rated player according to NFLMockDraftDatabase.com's consensus big board is Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., and he’s the 48th-ranked player. The Vikings may have him ranked in their own personal “Top 30,” but they’d be going out on a limb there.

The rest are Day 2 or 3 guys, with some like UDFAs sprinkled in. So are these visits even worth tracking?

Yes. Even if the Top 30 visits aren’t predictive of the first round, there is a correlation between them and guys taken on Day 2 or 3. The Vikings are doing their homework on this player for some rhyme or reason, and they wouldn’t be taking a closer look if it wasn’t worth their time. That's why bringing in Darrell Jackson was significant to me. Considering the player and what he would potentially bring to the Brian Flores defense, I think there’s something to glean here.

Jackson has taken a bizarre path to the NFL. He’s a three-time transfer, starting his career at Maryland, followed by Miami, and then FSU. Before the era of unlimited transfers, Jackson was one of the last players to have the NCAA deny his hardship waiver, forcing him to sit out all of FSU’s 2023 season before he was finally permitted to play and given a chance at meaningful football.

As a reward for patiently sitting out a 13-0 undefeated regular season and ACC Championship in 2023, he endured Florida State's 2024 campaign, which was FSU's worst season in modern program history. The program collapsed and became a punchline across college football. Despite his teammates giving up on the season and transferring, FSU firing his defensive coordinator, and the position coach that had stuck by him being pushed into retirement, I’ll commend Darrell Jackson for continuing to keep his head down and play to the best of his ability.

And, despite the chaos around him, he played pretty damn well.

When Jackson is playing right, he’s a problem in the middle. His frame is massive, with giant hands at the end of a 7’2” wingspan. He’s 6’5” and 315 lbs., and carries that weight remarkably well. He’s nearly all muscle and looks like he could get even bigger if he wanted to.

When he’s attacking properly, he can consume two gaps and provide some juice bull-rushing centers. He has the athleticism to get the quarterback wrapped up to the ground as well. My favorite plays from him are the ones where he extends his long arms and slows a runner down, even while being blocked.

He wins the “getting off the bus” test for sure. He’s built like the Incredible Hulk. Based on the eye test, he’s the absolute last guy I’d want lined up across from me. Unfortunately, the Incredible Hulk still has work to do to realize his full potential.

Jackson plays upright, and that leads him to getting knocked back occasionally by blockers that should have no business pushing back such a herculean frame. For all his impressive length, he needs to work on utilizing that length as a pass rusher. Playing so high can make his anchor inconsistent. All of this is why a guy with his athletic tools is a Day 2, early Day 3 selection — not a first-round pick.

That said, Minnesota’s interest in him signals a few things to me.

Firstly, this would be a play for athletic upside, showing confidence in Brian Flores and his defensive staff's ability to develop untapped potential in a player like this. It's also a signal that they’re looking at more bulk on the defensive interior, and Darrell Jackson would be the 2-gapping, nose tackle type, which they’ve been missing since Harrison Phillips's departure. Combine this with the intel about another player that Minnesota has brought in for a visit, Syracuse’s Domonique Orange (AKA Big Citrus, best nickname in the draft by far), who’s another space-eating nose tackle, and clearly, they’re doing their homework on this archetype.

I like Jackson's fit here. He’s got things to clean up. Still, considering the inconsistent coaching and playing opportunities he’s had in his college career, I don’t think it's far-fetched to project his ceiling as far above what we’ve seen.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein described him in his writeup thusly: “The tape is uneven with a floor of average backup, but Jackson’s size and length could be considered unmined gold by some teams.”

That body type is a gold mine, and his athleticism could allow him to balance some of the stunting and shuffling Flores asks of his lighter defensive tackles with his ability to eat up space in the running game. For as elite as the defense was last season, its worst performances were against the run game. Throwing this kind of size and athleticism at that problem could really help rectify that.