USC defensive end Drake Jackson made an indirect headline this week, after his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, convinced Schefty to tweet a self-serving prediction that Jackson would be a surprise first-round pick.
He was not.
Maybe they meant he would be a team’s first pick. If so, it’s true. At pick No. 61, Jackson was the initial selection made by the 49ers at the bottom of round one.
Here’s the tweet from Schefty: “Each year, unexpected players sneak into round one. One possibility this year is USC pass rusher Drake Jackson, whose agent Drew Rosenhaus said that ‘multiple teams’ predicted to him Wednesday that Jackson -- who had 15 top 30 visits -- ‘would be a surprise first-round pick.’”
It’s the latest rake on which Schefter has stepped. But it’s entirely possible that he willingly is doing it, because he realizes that any short-term pain is outweighed by the long-term gain that comes from, in this instance, Rosenhaus texting news about his clients to Schefter a solid 5-10 minutes before Rosenhaus texts it to anyone else.