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Recruiting on the South Plains | DE Branden Jackson

We're moving on to the second of three defensive end commits, Branden Jackson (the others being Desimon Green and Cooper Washington).  I think the only profiles that DTN lacks is Washington, DT Leon Mackey, DT Donte Phillips and ATH Otis Wright. Let's get to it.

The Measurables:

Branden Jackson
Position: DE
DTN Profile
Video: N/A
Rivals Profile 5.7
Scout Profile
ESPN Profile 78
Ht: 6'5"
Wt: 220 lbs
Forty: 4.60
High School: McKeesport (McKeesport, PA)

More after the jump.

The Player Speaks:  Prior to the season, Jackson talked about moving to inside linebacker and almost quit his high school team:

Was there a time when you thought basketball was your No. 1 sport? That's funny. Really last year, I thought basketball was going to be my sport. I went into football season and didn't think I would be a big part of the offense. Then they told me I would play middle linebacker and I had never played that before. I said, 'Man, I'm going to quit.' I thought I'd work hard to get a scholarship for basketball. But after playing linebacker, I started loving it.

And yes, the picture in the linked article show Jackson playing basketball and this year he's averaging 12 points and 8 rebounds a game for his high school team. 

And before the high school year started, Jackson was interviewed by a local television station and he does a good job of answering the reporter's fast-ball questions.

The Video:  The only free video can be found on Jackson's ESPN profile.  Go check it out. 

Scouting Report:  The thing that jumps out at me is that I think he's much more athletic than Green or Washington and for me, it's not really close, but Washington would be second on that list.  Anyway, as Jackson mentioned above, he wasn't real keen on moving to middle linebacker, and it's strange to see such a big and athletic guy playing middle linebacker and he's probably not ideally suited to play middle linebacker.  Still, you can see Jackson's athleticism really shine playing quarterback on his film and he's fast.  He has that long stride that probably makes him look not quite as fast, but that stride makes up a lot of ground.  I just love this type of athlete as he can probably do a number of things for a defense.

Branden, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

The 2011 Class: 

Position Commitment Ht/Wt School/State Rivals Rivals Rating Scout ESPN ESPN Grade
QB Michael Brewer 6-0/175 Lake Travis (Austin, TX) 3 5.7 3 3 78
RB Kenny Williams 5-10/210 Hendrickson (Pflugerville, TX) 4 5.8 4 4 80
RB Bradley Marquez 5-11/180 Odessa (Odessa, TX) 3 5.7 4 4 79
WR Derek Edwards 6-1/163 Brenham (Brenham, TX) 4 5.8 3 3 79
WR Marcus Kennard 6-4/205 Butler County C.C. (El Dorado, KS) 4 5.8 2 0 0
WR Jakeem Grant 5-7/157 Horn (Mesquite, TX) 3 5.5 3 3 75
TE Jace Amaro 6-5/237 MacArthur (San Antonio, TX) 4 5.9 4 3 78
OL Tony Morales 6-4/300 Sam Houston (Arlington, TX) 4 5.8 3 3 78
OL Alfredo Morales 6-3/287 Sam Houston (Arlington, TX) 3 5.7 3 3 76
OL Le'Raven Clark 6-6/245 Rockdale (Rockdale, TX) 3 5.7 4 3 79
OL Matt Wilson 6-7/270 Coldspring-Oakhurst (Coldspring, TX) 3 5.5 3 0 45
DL Dennell Wesley 6-3/315 Butler County C.C. (El Dorado, KS) 3 5.5 2 0 0
DL Leon Mackey 6-5/260 Hinds C.C. (Raymond, MS) 4 5.8 3 0 0
DL Donte Phillips 6-3/260 Homestead (Mequon, WI) 2 5.4 3 2 74
DE Kindred Evans 6-6/215 South Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie, TX) 3 5.6 3 3 75
DE Branden Jackson 6-4/220 McKeesport (McKeesport, PA) 3 5.7 4 3 78
DE Desimon Green 6-5/230 Clairton (Clairton, PA) 3 5.5 3 3 78
DE Cooper Washington 6-4/225 Muleshoe (Muleshoe, TX) 3 5.7 3 3 78
LB Blake Dees 6-0/234 Spanish Fort (Spanish Fort, AL) 3 5.5 3 2 73
LB Sam Eguavoen 6-2/220 Lakeview Centennial (Garland, TX) 3 5.6 2 3 75
LB Justin Cooper 6-1/205 University School of Nova South (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 3 5.5 2 2 74
CB Jeremy Reynolds 5-9/166 Oak Ridge Military Academy (Oak Ridge, NC) 3 5.5 2 3 77
ATH Ronnie Daniels 6-1/195 La Cueva (Albuquerque, NM) 3 5.6 3 3 76
ATH LaDarrin Robertson 6-3/215 Longview (Longview, TX) 3 5.5 3 3 77
ATH DeAndre Washington 5-9/183 Marshall (Missouri City, TX) 3 5.7 4 3 78
ATH J.J. Gaines 5-11/175 Irving Nimitz (Irving, TX) 3 5.6 3 3 77
ATH Otis Wright 6-0/180 Dillard (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 2 5.4 0 0 45
Averages 3.14 5.62 2.92 2.40 66.00