Film Room: Donovan Jackson has earned the right to play offensive tackle
Are we totally sure Donovan Jackson isn't actually a tackle?
Ohio State Football’s Donovan Jackson has boosted his 2025 NFL Draft stock with an elite run in the College Football Playoffs.
And the crazy thing about it? He’s playing a position that he didn’t play his first three-and-a-half years starting for the Buckeyes, who get set to take on Notre Dame in the National Championship on Monday Night. Part of this is due to the NFL offensive tackles that Jackson has played with.
Players like Thayer Munford (now of the Las Vegas Raiders), first rounder Paris Campbell Jr. (of the Arizona Cardinals), and Dawand Jones (with the Cleveland Browns) have all started games at tackle for the Buckeyes and have all started NFL games as well. Throw in Josh Simmons, another potential first round pick in this year’s draft, and Jackson has stayed inside his entire collegiate career.
Until Week 8 of this season.
Jackson was thrust into the left tackle spot halfway through his senior season.
Simmons suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 6 in the close loss to Oregon. Ohio State then inserted a backup left tackle who also suffered through an injury and substandard play for an Ohio State offensive lineman.
Ohio State made the decision: they were going to stick their most experienced and high-profile offensive lineman at left tackle after just one full game without Simmons. And despite a draw against a likely top-five pick this upcoming April, Penn State’s Abdul Carter, in his first game at left tackle (one that went quite poorly for him), Jackson quickly settled in after that.
This has culminated in the fourth-year senior and potential first round pick putting together an elite stretch of play for the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoffs. Outside of perhaps his teammate and freshman phenom wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, it’s hard to find a player who has played as well in the playoffs as Jackson.
He’s playing so well that draft analysts, including myself, are legitimately asking: Has Donovan Jackson been a tackle all along, and can he play there at the NFL level?
Let’s talk about why the answer may just be yes.
One of the 2025 NFL Draft’s premier pass protectors
In a class where I want to kick almost every college tackle inside to guard, including LSU’s Will Campbell, Texas’ Kelvin Banks, West Virginia’s Wyatt Milum, and more, it is odd for me to advocate for the opposite in this case.
However, a few differences contribute to the argument that Jackson can play tackle at the NFL level. Jackson is longer than all of the names mentioned. He has over 34-inch arms, which are plenty long to keep the freaks at defensive end out of his chest. More importantly, however, and why I tend to want to kick guys inside more than lack of length, Jackson’s foot speed is tremendous.
Coming in with the bias that Jackson would frequently give up a soft outside shoulder to bend and speed as most college tackles who are NFL guards do, it was astounding to see the opposite. It was staggering to see just how well he ran the arch and was able to get his outside hand in control of some of the more explosive pass rushers he has faced.
There are not a ton of college offensive tackles that have been asked to vertical set either. Neither Texas offensive tackle, Kelvin Banks Jr. nor Cameron Williams, do often as the ball comes out so fast in that offense. Oregon’s Josh Conerly does frequently, as did the starting Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons before his injury.
Yet Jackson, fresh off of three years at guard, immediately showed comfortability getting depth in his set vertically and at 45 degrees with explosiveness into his kick set. This is how his outside shoulder stays relatively protected, as he already has the wherewithal at offensive tackle to get the depth necessary to match speed from 7 and wide 9 looks.
Another added aspect that contributes to Jackson being an elite pass protector over this last three-game stretch in the playoffs is his eyes and spacing.
Jackson marries his kick depth with the quarterback’s drop exceptionally well already. He establishes his half-a-man positioning before settling in nicely and is never stepping on his quarterback’s toes or giving defenders an inside track to the quarterback as it’s rare to see him oversetting or straining from his post.
This allows for him to pass off and pick up games along the interior at a high level as well. Jackson’s eyes stay on a guard and his head on a swivel. If he is not threatened post-snap after identifying his matchup pre-snap, Jackson will always look for work until he hears a whistle.
Throughout this playoff run, going against the likes of future first rounder James Pearce Jr., the Oregon standouts of Jordan Burch and Mateo Uiagaleilei, and the Texas trio of Colin Simmons, Trey Moore, and Barryn Sorrell, Jackson has more than held his own. He has dominated.
Jackson has given up just two total pressures in the playoffs and has not surrendered a sack or even a hit on his quarterback. Jackson has not surrendered a sack since his very first start at left tackle against Penn State’s obvious top-five pick Abdul Carter in Week 10.
His movement skills shine in the run game at offensive tackle
When Donovan Jackson is asked to get lateral in the run game, it is easy to see his movement skills. He shows little difficulty working toward the boundary from the left tackle post to work his helmet across the face of the defender and scoop them out to seal off a running lane for TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
This shows when Jackson is asked to climb to the second level as well. Latching at the second level isn’t always a successful endeavor for Jackson, but he plays controlled and climbs with ease to breakdown and find work. It’s easy to find offensive tackles who bulldoze their way into the second level and over-pursue work. Jackson is not one of those players.
Jackson is not at the level of athlete that the likes of Trent Williams, Christian Darrisaw, Tristan Wirfs, and some of the other A-tier athletes at the offensive tackle position, but he is certainly a plus athlete.
Getting lateral is not the only effective way Jackson thrives as a run blocker either. Jackson puts a strong core on tape to dig in his heels and anchor at the point of attack to prevent penetration, but also plays with excellent hip torque to drive defenders into the turf when he gets into their chest as a down blocker.
What deficiencies does Donovan Jackson have as a tackle?
The part of Jackson’s game that sticks out like a sore thumb at left tackle is his hand technique and punch timing. Jackson already does not have exceptional grip strength or a dynamite punch as it is, but there is an evident learning curve from how to use his hands as a guard vs. as a tackle.
As a guard, Jackson is predominantly jump-setting the man across from him. This means he’s not kicking out into his set but instead jumping straight into his anchor and looking to get his hands on the man across from him as soon as possible.
When kick-setting as a tackle, you need to be a bit more patient with your hands. Jackson is still evidently eager to get his hands on the man across from him, and what this does is provide a target for the pass rusher to work with.
He just needs to time out his punch a bit better. This will come with more live reps at offensive tackle (should the team that drafts him look to keep him there) as well as some seasoned coaching.
Where I have Jackson graded out as an OT
It’s worth mentioning that I would have an identical grade on Jackson as both a guard and tackle. So it’s dealer’s choice here. However, given the lack of offensive tackles at the NFL level, if you have one who is one you have to let them fail outside before kicking them inside.
Jackson has earned that right this season.
The Ohio State product is the fourth-highest-graded offensive lineman in the class and my OT3. Only his teammate Josh Simmons and Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. have higher grades at offensive tackle than Jackson for me. Will Johnson is the only player I’m projecting at guard with a higher grade.
Duane Brown is a name that comes to my mind as a potential pro comparison to Jackson’s offensive tackle tape. Similarly, Brown was just 6-foot-4 almost on the nose with plus arm length. A first round pick by the Houston Texans in 2008 and a top-notch athletic tester, we will see if Jackson can match his numbers both at the NFL Scouting Combine and in NFL Draft positioning.
He sits at No. 19 on my board with a top 50 grade tag on him.
Jackson deserves to hear his name called in the first round. Especially in this class.
For the TL;DR crowd
For starters, there is one question for Jackson to answer himself: does he want to play offensive tackle? If he does, then he’s earned that right even if he hasn’t been playing the position for long at the collegiate level.
He has the physical frame for it at 6-foot-4 and with over 34-inch arms. Beyond his body type, Jackson possesses the requisite foot speed and mental acuity at the position already to prove he can hang with the best of them. After three-and-a-half years of playing guard for the Buckeyes, it turns out he may have been playing the wrong position this whole time.
He’s a dominant pass blocker on a dominant stretch in the College Football Playoffs and is one of the main reasons Ohio State is finding success both through the air and on the ground. Jackson argues for the Most Valuable Player from any of the 12 teams in the playoffs for his play.
We already know Jackson can play guard, but there is a real chance is offensive tackle tape has been even better down the stretch despite playing what will be just his ninth total game in four seasons at the position.
Flat out, Jackson has earned the right to play offensive tackle at the NFL level.