Razorbacks' Landon Jackson May Finally Be Ready

It's taken awhile, but defensive end starting to show ability

(Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's taken awhile, but Landon Jackson may finally give Arkansas a defensive pass rusher.

The muscular former LSU transfer is finally healthy enough to make a mess of SEC offenses this fall.

WATCH SAM PITTMAN'S PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER TUESDAY'S PRACTICE

In Saturday's 122-play scrimmage that was closed to the media, he was finally starting to give Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman a glimpse of what he can be.

"Landon Jackson had as good a day as he's had since he's been here," Pittman said in his press conference after Tuesday's practice. "He was so impressive."

The 6-foot-7, 269-pounder has always had the frame, but appeared at times to be rather tentative after transferring to the Hogs last spring from LSU. That is sounding like an accurate guess.

"He's a problem now," Pittman said. "A good problem. He’s on our team, but he’s a problem if you’re an offensive lineman. It’s just his speed and his size right now."

Jackson had the height before, but was skinny and a big part of his learning curve was slowed by a torn ACL that has taken awhile to bounce back from.

He started seven games, including the Liberty Bowl against Kansas, at defensive end and recorded 23 tackles and three sacks.

Pro Football Focus showed a season-best tackling grade of 75.9 in the triple-overtime victory over the Jayhawks and did not miss a tackle after Week 4.

There's that improvement he made after a slow start in spring and he's played himself into shape probably as much as anything.

"He's been hard to block," through spring drills, Pittman said of Jackson.

Getting consistent pressure on a quarterback without jeopardizing pass coverage has been an issue for awhile. Mainly because it hasn't been there, especially last year made some quarterbacks look all-SEC when they weren't even the best at the position in their own team.

It's not just Jackson.

“I really like our defensive ends with [Jashaud Stewart], Zach [Williams], Nico [Davillier],  John [Morgan] and of course [Trajan] Jeffcoat," Pittman said. "Those guys. We're coming along.

They've got depth issues inside, but they've recruited some pass rushers on the outside.

“We’re pretty talented there," Pittman said. "We're a little short on the inside because Cam Ball's got a high ankle [sprain].”

It's all part of defense that's ahead of the offense right now and Pittman admitted they don't have anyone that's emerged as a primary target at wide receiver. We speculated that was a big problem earlier.

The portal window opening soon could provide an answer. Wide receivers tend to have a faster impact that other positions.

Which is something Pittman is glad to see. It's a complete change in philosophy.

"We're going to be real aggressive," he said.

Now the offense has to catch up or there's still a big problem. For now, though, it sounds like that's a good thing.

But they've still got to score points.

Championships aren't won these days without that.

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