Saints selected Appalachian State LB D’Marco Jackson with the No. 161 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Jackson (6’1/233) emerged in 2020, leading the team with 91 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, eight PBUs, and two interceptions while receiving second-team All-Sun Belt accolades. His best season was last year when he posted an incredible 120 tackles, 21 pressures, 19.0 TFLs, six sacks, and six PBUs, earning the SBC Defensive Player of the Year Award. Jackson is exceptionally fast, running a 94th percentile 4.55 40 with a 10-yard split of 1.46. His rock-solid 8.29 relative athletic score shows the sideline-to-sideline ability and burst he displayed on tape, but he is small for the position and gets swallowed up by long-armed blockers. Though he was wildly productive in college, he tends to over pursue and vacate gap responsibilities trying to make splash plays, as his career 18% missed tackle rate shows. While his special teams acumen will likely get him a long look in training camp, Jackson might simply be too small to play linebacker in the NFL and has shades of Duke Riley to his game.
