Matthew Alexander Jackson (born November 9, 1998) is an American professional football safety. He played college football at Eastern Kentucky.
| Personal information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | November 9, 1998 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 209 lb (95 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Hillsboro (Nashville, Tennessee) | ||||
| College: | Eastern Kentucky (2017–2022) | ||||
| Position: | Safety | ||||
| Undrafted: | 2023 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||
| |||||
Early life
editJackson was born on November 9, 1998.[1] He attended Hillsboro High School and competed in both football and track and field.[2] As a junior in 2015, he had 39 total stops, an interception, and two defensive touchdowns.[3] The following season, he was named team captain and led the squad with 64 tackles, additionally having two interceptions, one of which he returned for a 100-yard touchdown.[2] At the same time, he won the city long jump championship while competing in track and field and participated at the state tournament.[2] He committed to play college football for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels over several other FCS offers.[3]
College career
editAs a true freshman at Eastern Kentucky in 2017, Jackson redshirted.[4] He saw limited action over the next two seasons, having 11 tackles in 11 games in 2018 and 15 tackles in 10 games in 2019 while appearing mostly on special teams.[4][5] He saw his first major action in 2020; starting at linebacker, he recorded a team-leading 79 tackles, as well as eight TFLs and 2.5 sacks, in nine games, three of which were played against FBS opponents.[5] The following season, Jackson posted 102 tackles, 11 TFLs, eight pass breakups, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in 11 games played, earning all-conference honors, being a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award for best FCS defensive player, and winning Phil Steele's ASUN Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award.[5][6][7] In his final year, 2022, he led Eastern Kentucky with 87 tackles and also compiled 7.5 TFLs, two fumble recoveries and two sacks on his way to being named all-conference and a third-team All-American by Stats Perform.[2][8]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m) |
209 lb (95 kg) |
31+1⁄4 in (0.79 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.52 s | 1.64 s | 2.53 s | 4.37 s | 7.01 s | 38.5 in (0.98 m) |
11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) |
17 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[9] | ||||||||||||
Tennessee Titans
editAfter going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Jackson was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent.[10] He was one of five undrafted rookies to make the team's final roster.[11] He was waived on November 18 and re-signed to the practice squad three days later.[12][13] He was promoted to the active roster on January 6, 2024.
Jackson was waived on August 27, 2024.[14]
Jacksonville Jaguars
editJackson was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad on August 29, 2024.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Matthew Jackson - Tennessee Titans Safety". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Glennon, John (May 12, 2023). "Titans' crop of undrafted free agents includes Nashville's Matthew Jackson". Nashville Post.
- ^ a b Murphy, Michael (September 4, 2016). "Hillsboro's Matthew Jackson commits to Eastern Kentucky". The Tennessean.
- ^ a b "Matthew Jackson". Eastern Kentucky Colonels.
- ^ a b c Herder, Sam (July 29, 2022). "2022 FCS Jersey Countdown: 33 — The Best Player Who Wears No. 33 Is EKU's Matthew Jackson". HERO Sports.
- ^ Rogers, Steve (January 11, 2022). "EKU football stars earn ASUN, Phil Steele All-American honors". WTVQ-DT.
- ^ "Jackson named preseason all-american". Richmond Register. August 1, 2022.
- ^ "Jackson, McKinney Tabbed As Stats Perform FCS All-Americans". Eastern Kentucky Colonels. December 20, 2022.
- ^ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Matthew Jackson College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ Terry, Samaria (May 31, 2023). "Former Hillsboro standout Matthew Jackson signs UDFA deal with Titans". WKRN-TV.
- ^ Rowland, Tyler (August 29, 2023). "Five Undrafted Rookies Make Tennessee Titans 53-Man Roster Including Caleb Murphy & Kearis Jackson". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (November 18, 2023). "Titans Make Several Roster Moves Ahead of Sunday's Game vs the Jaguars". TennesseeTitans.com.
- ^ Ulrich, Logan. "Titans Make Three Roster Moves". NFL Trade Rumors. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (August 27, 2024). "Titans Trim Roster Ahead of NFL's Deadline". TennesseeTitans.com.
- ^ "Roster Moves: Jaguars Sign OL Blake Hance, S Matthew Jackson and WR Louis Rees-Zammit to the Practice Squad". Jaguars.com. Jacksonville Jaguars. Retrieved August 30, 2024.