USC Football: Evaluating 2024 Trojan Commit Bryan Jackson's Fit In Lincoln Riley's Air Raid
McKinney (McKinney, TX) class of 2024 running back Bryan Jackson is a downhill, hulking ball carrier. He committed to USC in April and took his official visit there over the summer. Jackson passed up on offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, and Baylor to name a few. He also recently attended USC’s last-second loss to a powerful Utah team. All signs point to him being locked in with Trojans. His top five schools prior to his commitment were USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Baylor.
He plays for one of the best programs in the state of Texas at McKinney and is used to a heavy workload. In his junior season, he rushed for over 1,600 yards on 265 carries with 23 total touchdowns scored. He’s built like a workhorse running back and his production matches that.
For somebody his build (230 pounds), Jackson has excellent foot speed. He can press the line of scrimmage and cut through last second gap openings. The offense he played in at McKinney is very different from Lincoln Riley’s air raid, so that will be something to watch as he enrolls and starts practicing. He doesn’t have the prototypical build for an air raid running back, but the athleticism is there for him to be able to adapt.
One of the harder things to adapt to for downhill running backs entering the air raid offense is rhythm, both micro and macro. Micro meaning the rhythm with which the blocking scheme develops in the run game, and how to match up your decisions/bursts with a blocking scheme designed to open gaps by turning the shoulders of the defensive line. He is used to a more downhill, push the defensive lineman back and re-establish the line of scrimmage type of scheme . Macro meaning given he won’t be rushing for his typical ~20 carry-a-game work load. This sometimes hinders running back’s ability to get a feel for where the holes will appear and how the defense is defending certain runs.
Jackson was also at the elite 11 showcase in California this past summer, and looked pretty good while running routes.
This season, his final at McKinney, he looks just as quick despite an injury that kept him out the first couple games.
The bottom line on Bryan Jackson is that while he may take a while to get used to his future team’s scheme, he should add a bruising presence to the Trojan running back stable.
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