Set to compete for fourth safety job, what Dan Jackson's Georgia tape tells us about Lions' rookie safety
The Detroit Lions went into the 2025 NFL Draft with room to add safety depth behind the team’s dynamic starting tandem of Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. They didn’t find it until the late stages of the event, selecting Georgia’s Dan Jackson No. 230 overall in the seventh round.
Jackson joins a room with several young options, including Loren Strickland and Morice Norris, two undrafted players who spent time on Detroit’s roster a year ago, and an incoming undrafted signing, Ian Kennelly, a local product who starred at Utica Eisenhower and Grand Valley State.
Jackson has the slightest advantage as the draft pick in the group, with a four-year contract and more than $130,000 in guarantees. Still, those four, along with returning practice squader Erick Hallett, are set to compete for one roster spot.
Before that battle ramps up during training camp, let’s take a closer look at Jackson’s 2024 film from Georgia to better understand what he’ll be bringing to the table.
Games watched
2024: @Alabama, @Texas, vs. Tennessee, Texas (SEC Championship), Notre Dame (CFP)
Bio
Born and raised an hour outside of Athens, Jackson was a two-way star for North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia, earning All-State honors as a defensive player. Instead of going on to play for a smaller college program, he chose to stay close to home and walk on at Georgia.
“It’s really pretty simple,” Jackson said about that decision. “For one, I wanted to win, and I felt like that was the best chance I had, to be there. Two, I wanted to be around the best of the best every day and compete against the best of the best. I think that’s really shaped me. Georgia has really shaped me into the player I am today.”
Jackson redshirted as a freshman and was utilized on the scout team his second year before appearing in 15 games the next season. He primarily contributed on special teams for three campaigns before a breakout performance as a sixth-year senior in 2024.
Statistics
2021: 15 games, 455 defensive snaps, 40 tackles
2022: seven games, 126 defensive snaps, 16 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble
2023: 11 games, 199 defensive snaps, 20 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble
2024: 14 games, 706 defensive snaps, 64 tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble
Durability
Jackson missed the final seven games of the 2022 season with a stress fracture in his right foot. He was also sidelined for the final three games in 2023 with an infected bursa sac in his right knee.
Athletic profile
Not invited to the scouting combine, the six-foot, 194-pound Jackson showcased above-average athleticism at Georgia’s pro day, buoyed by his elite speed.
During the pre-draft process, he ran his 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds, with an equally impressive 1.54-second 10-yard split. His explosion was further demonstrated by an above-average 10-foot-3 broad jump. Jackson’s agility is average for his position, and he didn’t perform the bench press.
Usage
Like most safeties, Jackson lined up in multiple spots in Georgia's secondary. Most of his reps have come at free safety, but he also saw work in the box, slot, and situational snaps along the line of scrimmage.
In terms of special teams, he logged more than 500 snaps during his college career. His heaviest workloads were on kickoff coverage and punt return. Surprisingly, given his speed, he didn’t see a single snap on Georgia’s outstanding punt coverage group.
Jackson blocked a punt and a kick during his college career.
Skill assessment
Coverage: Jackson does some things well in coverage, and other things not so well.
Let's start with the strengths. Even when operating from deeper alignments, Jackson processes and diagnoses what's happening in front of him well. He has a lightning-quick downhill trigger on throws to the perimeter. He regularly beats blocks to the ball, quickly bringing down the intended targets on receiver screens and flares to the running back.
Jackson played a decent amount of man coverage in 2024. He would line up either directly over a slot responsibility, often a tight end, or rotate with an outside cornerback from a pre-snap, two-high shell. In both cases, he rarely played press, typically lining up between 5-10 yards off his assignment.
Jackson has reasonably fluid hips, allowing him to turn, run and stay in phase on downfield routes. That said, he often plays on his heels, hyper-vigilant not to let anything behind him. That's not a bad thing, but it means he'll concede extra cushion on patterns that break toward the sideline or come back to the line of scrimmage. Accurate quarterbacks who get rid of the ball quickly at the next level can capably feast on this approach if adjustments aren't made.
Where Jackson is less effective is patrolling deeper zones. When a receiver accelerates off the line and quickly eats up the cushion, the defender's footwork can get choppy, and his reactions can be a fraction of a second slow, putting him out of position at the route's stem.
Additionally, Jackson isn't nearly as instinctual when playing the deeper parts of the field. He can get too fixated on one part of the play and lose track of what's happening around him. This shows up most critically in his late arrival as an over-the-top help defender, almost never leaving him in a position to make a play on the ball despite his top-end speed.
In the five games watched, Jackson had one interception, which came off a deflection created by a teammate. He didn't get his hands on another ball and only recorded two breakups on the season.
Run Defense: Given his willingness to take the hard road to get to the NFL, it comes as no surprise to learn Jackson is an eager contributor in the run game.
Jackson triggers downhill with the same tenacity he does in the passing game, crashing into the box and clogging potential run lanes. He also has the speed to shut down runs to the perimeter, including mobile quarterbacks who like to keep the ball on zone-read looks.
Overall, Jackson's pursuit angles are good, but he struggles to shed blocks. Fortunately, his speed allows him to regularly beat blockers to their landmarks.
Tackling: Missed tackles are a major issue for Jackson. He missed at least one in each of the five games we watched. According to data tracked by Pro Football Focus, he whiffed on a whopping 19.5% of his attempts last season.
Jackson is a powerful striker when he can line up his opponent. When he can square a hit coming downhill, he'll run through the ball carrier on most occasions.
In pursuit, his strike point can get inconsistent. On occasions when he gets high, he can be shrugged off by a stiff arm. Meanwhile, in the open field, his speed and aggression can be used against him, leaving him susceptible to inside cutbacks where his average length is exposed.
Intangibles: Even when there seems to be chaos going on around him, Jackson never panics pre-snap, displaying confidence with his alignment and assignment down in and down out.
Jackson also regularly demonstrated strong communication skills, both verbal and via clear hand signals, helping his teammates sift through necessary pre-snap adjustments.
His deep understanding of Georgia's defensive scheme was demonstrated through his deployment. In one game, he'd spend the entire afternoon protecting the deepest parts of the field. In another, he would be asked to operate in the box while regularly flexing out to the slot.
Jackson's motor runs hot, regardless of what the scoreboard reads, and he's enthusiastic about celebrating his teammates' playmaking.
Conclusion
Jackson plays like a strong safety in a free safety body. There are positives with that, including unmistakable, tone-setting physicality whenever he gets the opportunity to unleash it. However, the other side of that coin is that he doesn't consistently deliver over-the-top support in coverage or have any of the practical ball skills you'd anticipate, given his tremendous speed.
Like most of the players the Lions add through the draft, there's little question Jackson has the work ethic to maximize the coaching points he'll be given, particularly when it comes to refining his techniques related to coverage and tackling.
Obviously, there's a high floor and ceiling as a special teams contributor, given his athleticism, experience and grit. If he can earn a roster spot, I see him having an early role on kickoff and punt coverage (even if he didn't do it at Georgia), punt return and field goal block.
Defensively, he's got a lot to fine-tune before he can reasonably be relied upon. Regardless, there are worse-case scenarios than finding a John Wendling-type player at the tail end of a draft.
