Prior to joining the Pittsburgh Steelers following a surprising offseason trade, veteran cornerback Donte Jackson was known for being a bit of a ball hawk. During his time with the Carolina Panthers, Jackson recorded 14 interceptions across six seasons.
In Pittsburgh, Jackson has taken it up a level from a ball-production standpoint. Entering Week 14 against the Cleveland Browns, Jackson has already set a career-high in interceptions with five, establishing the new career mark last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals and giving him a pick in back-to-back games in the process.
For Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who spoke to reporters Thursday, Jackson’s production is something the Steelers knew they had in him when they traded for him. But seeing it up close now and seeing things come together for the veteran cornerback in a new city has been rather rewarding.
“I can’t say we expected the production because it hasn’t been there, but we knew he had the ability to produce for us and produce in the ways he has,” Austin said of Jackson, according to the official transcript provided by the team. “When he was coming out, he was a ball guy. He can run. He had coverage ability.
“So it’s just coming together for him. It’s good for him and good for us. Just got to continue to keep that going.”
Coming out of LSU in the 2018 NFL Draft, Jackson was a guy who had great speed and coverage abilities, but didn’t have the type of production on the ball in college that was all that impressive. In 37 career games at LSU, Jackson had just four interceptions and 20 passes defensed.
But once he jumped into the NFL, he saw his production go way up, recording four interceptions and nine pass breakups as a rookie. Jackson proceeded to stack seasons of at least two interceptions and eight pass breakups through the 2021 season. In 2022, he was on pace to do that again, pulling down two interceptions and three pass breakups before missing the rest of the season after just nine games.
Then, in 2023, Jackson put up a zero in the interceptions department despite playing a full season. He had just five passes defensed, too. This season in Pittsburgh everything has changed. Jackson is up to five interceptions already and has eight passes defensed, putting him on pace to surpass his career high of 11 in that category as well.
Things are coming together well for Jackson from a production standpoint as he’s making splash plays for the Steelers. He’s struggled in recent weeks in coverage, though, falling off a bit after a great start to the season.
In two of the last three games, Jackson has allowed a receiving touchdown and hasn’t had much success slowing some guys down. But the Steelers will take the splash plays, which can cover up for some of the issues at the moment.
Hopefully Jackson can get back to the level of play he was at early in the season. That would go a long way for the Black and Gold, especially with the turnovers he’s creating.
