Georgia football: don’t sleep on second year receiver Kearis Jackson
The best receiver from the 2018 Georgia football recruiting class was Kearis Jackson. Out of high school, 247Sports Composite ranked him the no. 130 player in the country.
The signing of new classes always generate buzz and excitement among fans. So much, that stars from previous recruiting classes who are yet to break out, tend to become overshadowed. But in the case of Kearis Jackson, he became overshadowed before his freshman Georgia football season ever began.
Since Jackson enrolled on campus in January of last year, the Bulldogs have brought in four solid wide receivers. Former five-star Demetris Robertson transferred from California to Georgia last July. Around the same time, four-star Dominick Blaylock committed to Georgia, and just like Jackson, he signed in the Early Signing Period. Five-star George Pickens joined Blaylock in the 2019 class when he signed on National Signing Day. Then graduate-transfer from Miami Lawrence Cager became a Bulldog. It’s easy to see why a garbage-time receiver from 2018 would get overshadowed.
But Jackson isn’t about to let all of the newcomers just pass him by. He’s a talented receiver in his own right who just needed a year to polish his game. Remember, J.J. Holloman barely saw the field as a freshman in 2017. He had 418 yards and five touchdowns last season. Jackson is someone to watch this spring. He won’t be competing against Blaylock, Pickens and Cager until later in the summer, but he can build a solid bond with Jake Fromm now
Jackson’s greatest strength, that I noticed in the highlight package, wasn’t actually mentioned in his 247Sports evaluation. Jackson is great at making tough catches. He’s physical on throws into tight windows, and he lays out on overthrown balls. He’s certainly a big-play threat with the ball. He’s agile with good speed, and can use those skills to escape a group of defenders. But he has a catch first, run second approach to being a wide receiver. He’s not going to drop a lot of passes for any reason.
Next. top 15 running backs in Georgia football history. dark
Like all receivers on the team, Jackson needed to work on blocking. It’s important to the coaches that the offense is able to run out of pass formations and vice versa. He also needed to work on route running, per his 247Sports evaluation. As a true freshman, Jackson was always one of the first receivers to enter a game when starters were pulled, that shows how high on the depth chart he was. He should be considered a favorite for a starting spot going into the spring.