General manager Omar Khan did a great job filling many of the prominent needs on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster this offseason. The one move that was somewhat curious was the trade that sent WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers and brought CB Donte Jackson to the Steelers. As a result, the WR2 position is still up in the air to this day.
There were reports that Jackson was going to be released by the Panthers if they couldn’t find a trade partner, which made the move even more of a head-scratcher. However, head coach Mike Tomlin stated they had their eyes on Jackson, dating back to the pre-draft process. The more you dig into his tape, the more there is to get excited about.
According to one Steelers insider, Jackson impressed during the first day of training camp practice.
“I thought he had a really good day yesterday,” said Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo on Donte Jackson via 93.7 The Fan on Friday morning. “I didn’t ask Tomlin if it was done by design, but Donte was matched up on George Pickens a lot yesterday, and he had two notable pass breakups. One on the sideline, one in the middle of the field. So, he was hanging with George Pickens.”
It seems very possible that this was done by design. Porter matched up against top receivers throughout his rookie season and performed exceedingly well. There is no reason to believe that won’t continue in year two, but it is a good idea to test how well Jackson holds up against a talented receiver like Pickens.
During day zero of training camp, when players were reporting to Saint Vincent College, Jackson expressed a desire to match up against Pickens. Porter got most of those opportunities last year in camp with some very intense battles between the two.
I would imagine they will go back to Porter blanketing Pickens before too long at practice, but it is nice to see that Jackson can hold up against a bigger receiver. He has a size disadvantage at just 5-10, 180 pounds. But he makes up for it with speed, veteran savvy, and great ball skills. I pulled all of his career pass breakups and interceptions earlier in the offseason, so I am not at all surprised by his early performance at camp.
Alex Kozora noted in his day one training camp diary that Jackson looked “competitive at the ball.”
At the end of the day, there is a reason that Tomlin—a former DBs coach—wanted Jackson. I think we are all starting to see why.
