Malik Jackson

strengths

Very good size and frame with a strong upper body and long arms. Very good quickness and agility for his size and is a naturally explosive player with good get-off speed. Jackson stays balanced through contact and keeps working to penetrate the pocket, playing with a good motor. He is stout at the point of attack and plays with good length and wrist/hand strength to secure tackles. Jackson has also shown the ability to rip the ball out of the grasp of ballcarriers with four career forced fumbles. Improved awareness and footwork to drop in space when needed. Versatile skill-set to play multiple positions on the defensive line and has experience playing inside and outside.

nfl comparison

Tim Crowder, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

weaknesses

Plays too tall and allows himself to get upright off the snap. Needs to do a better job with leverage to win at the line of scrimmage, relying too much on his upper-body strength. Lean lower body and needs to improve his strength in his legs and thighs. Suspect body flexibility and tight hips. Not a natural bender and lacks fluid change of direction ability. Plays with inconsistent pad level and is often knocked backwards off the snap. Only average career production at the college level (13.0 career sacks). Still a bit raw in his development and needs to eliminate senseless penalties. Looks fatigued at times, struggling to finish plays, and conditioning might be an issue.

Extremely physical, hard-hitting defensive back

three-year letterwinner and two-year starter at Dunwoody High School

logged 93 tackles, including 65 solo stops, two tackles for loss and four forced fumbles as a senior when he earned All-Region and second-team All-County honors

clocked at 4.45 in the 40.

His 2007 honors included Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West Best of the Rest, Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team, All-L.A. City Co-Defensive MVP (with his twin, Marquis), Los Angeles Times All-Star, Los Angeles Daily News All-Area Co-Defensive MVP (with his twin, Marquis) and All-West Valley League Co-Defensive MVP (with his twin, Marquis) as a senior defensive lineman at Birmingham High in Van Nuys (Calif.). He had 103 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery in 2007. As a junior in 2006, he made All-L.A. City first team and Daily News All-Area second team while getting 10.5 sacks. Current Trojan De'Von Flournoy also prepped at Birmingham.

Son of Romona and Anthony Jackson

born 6/10/85

Sports Administration major.

Twin brother, Marquis, is a defensive end at Texas Southern.