Gimmesix's 4th preseason game analysis

[Irvin88_4life]

I have been looking closely at Jackson because I've wanted him to show that he has something special. I haven't seen it. What I've seen consistently is that he's got great speed to get to the outside and outrace defenses. That's where most of his success has come from.

He's got good size, but I wouldn't call him a power back because he doesn't really run over anyone. His size does help him to sustain hits, though, like the attempt to bring him down by his shoulder pad last night.

He will cut the ball up off tackle if he's cut off from the outside.

What I haven't seen is good vision and cutting ability to see when the hole is closed and bounce it back. Some of that might be him not wanting to improvise but when your line is blown up, you have to improvise as a back.

It's easy to say I don't like Jackson, but I wasn't ever looking to not like Jackson. I wanted to see reasons to keep him on the 53. What I've seen instead is reason to keep him on the practice squad. Calling it like you see it doesn't mean you have something against a player.

I have seen other things and that's fine if your eyes didn't see what you wanted to see. I don't think he will be special and want expecting it from a late 6th round pick. Only a few backs are special but what I did see was an all around back. He can run, catch, block and special teams. He has shown some very good vision as evident by his 20 yard run with the starting OL that doesn't show up in the box score due to a bogus holding call. His TD catch was beautiful, he had some help with blocking by he picked the right path and had to avoid a defender which he did. He seems to know where the first down is and ran great inside against Seattle. Only with 5 carries but 2 was stuffed in the backfield and on the last 3 carries was hitting at 10-14 yard runs which all came inside and not bouncing it outside.

He showed awareness in that Seattle game with his pass blocking. They had a corner blitz he was late getting to that resulted in a sack. Later Seattle team the same corner blitz and Jackson picked it up and Showers threw the TD. After that sack he didn't miss another block on 7 consecutive attempts.

I think he had upside and tons of potential, if you're looking for special look at Zeke.....hence the number 4 pick but he doesn't need to be special. He needs to be solid and can contribute which he can do and someone will pick him up. Plus you are paying him pennies for 4 years plus has upside. With McFadden and Dunbar on 1 year deals and Morris on 2 year deal i would keep Jackson

 

[jrumann59]

I feel like Dallas has been trying since it acquired Ezekiel Elliott to find a place for Rod Smith. That he happened to be a better running back last night than Jackson gives him separation he needed to make the roster IMO.

Jackson just hasn't been impressive other than on some outside runs. Smith was showing how to use the cutback last night while Jackson continues to primarily just go where the blocking goes even if the blocking breaks down.

You could be right on Tapper, but at this point I think he goes on IR.

Question is, was Rod better due to the fact he has more actual time in the offense. Not making excuses but low round skill players try and prove thy are playbook sound so they tend to hyper focus on where they need to be instead of what they need to do to make the play a "success".

 

[gimmesix]

Question is, was Rod better due to the fact he has more actual time in the offense. Not making excuses but low round skill players try and prove thy are playbook sound so they tend to hyper focus on where they need to be instead of what they need to do to make the play a "success".

Very possible. He's been around long enough to know what's going on while Jackson is just learning how to play in the NFL. That would be the main reason to keep Jackson over Smith IMO. The upside is there with him if the lack of vision he showed had more to do with being a rookie than just not having it.

 

[gimmesix]

I have seen other things and that's fine if your eyes didn't see what you wanted to see. I don't think he will be special and want expecting it from a late 6th round pick. Only a few backs are special but what I did see was an all around back. He can run, catch, block and special teams. He has shown some very good vision as evident by his 20 yard run with the starting OL that doesn't show up in the box score due to a bogus holding call. His TD catch was beautiful, he had some help with blocking by he picked the right path and had to avoid a defender which he did. He seems to know where the first down is and ran great inside against Seattle. Only with 5 carries but 2 was stuffed in the backfield and on the last 3 carries was hitting at 10-14 yard runs which all came inside and not bouncing it outside.

He showed awareness in that Seattle game with his pass blocking. They had a corner blitz he was late getting to that resulted in a sack. Later Seattle team the same corner blitz and Jackson picked it up and Showers threw the TD. After that sack he didn't miss another block on 7 consecutive attempts.

I think he had upside and tons of potential, if you're looking for special look at Zeke.....hence the number 4 pick but he doesn't need to be special. He needs to be solid and can contribute which he can do and someone will pick him up. Plus you are paying him pennies for 4 years plus has upside. With McFadden and Dunbar on 1 year deals and Morris on 2 year deal i would keep Jackson

His 20-yard run was a nice run around left end, which is what he has shown he can do well (actually to either side). You can't teach speed and he has it.

I'm not sure what he brings to special teams. He didn't offer much on returns and I don't remember him making any special teams plays, but I could be wrong.

He does show good hands and certainly has the speed to take advantage on screens and outlet passes.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

His 20-yard run was a nice run around left end, which is what he has shown he can do well (actually to either side). You can't teach speed and he has it.

I'm not sure what he brings to special teams. He didn't offer much on returns and I don't remember him making any special teams plays, but I could be wrong.

He does show good hands and certainly has the speed to take advantage on screens and outlet passes.

You keep saying outside runs and that 20 yard was outside but against Seattle he went straight up the gut and was his best game to date. 5 for 30 even when his first 2 runs was stuffed