Darrell Jackson looks slimmer than ever. The former Seminoles nose tackle gets honest about his weight shedding journey.
Darrell Jackson arrived back to Florida State fully transformed.
The nose tackle once neared 340-pounds while tangling with centers and guards. He still did enough to move swiftly past opposing interior blockers and dismantle running plays. Still, there were NFL scouts clearly concerned over his weight.
So Jackson did something about it...dropping to 315 pounds ahead of the NFL Draft.
His new-look frame has become the talk of FSU fans who are watching his league journey unfold. Jackson broke his silence about both his trek to the league and his weight shedding journey with reporters Thursday.
"I wanted to drop weight. I was 335 during the season. I feel good at 315," Jackson said.
He's trimmed 20 pounds before hearing his name get called in the April NFL Draft.
But along with controlling his weight, he also picked up one more important element ahead of going pro.
"Just learning about keeping my pad level down," Jackson said.
Too often, Jackson came up too high but had enough girth and upper body power to become unmovable. But at the NFL level, offensive linemen are more fundamentally sound.
He also shared one more benefit about his newfound weight.
"I feel like being in shape helps me continue to run after the play, chase the ball, just have more stamina," Jackson said. "So that helps."
Pro teams needing a slimmer interior defender could become more coaxed to look into Jackson moving forward. There are defensive lines that prefer quicker defenders off the snap. Jackson's weight loss places him in a position where he can be more quicker once the center snaps the football.
But was slimming down his idea? Or did he overhear scouts and FSU coaches telling him to drop weight?
"I felt too heavy. So that's just something I advised to do [myself]," Jackson said. "I feel like I was too heavy at 337, you know what I mean? So when I got down 315, I feel good."
He also feels great about absorbing the process of preparing for the NFL rigors.
"Just just just learning how to be a pro, you know, what watch what you eat, just everything like you got to calculate to what is your dreams. So, how you move on the field, how you going to be off the field. So, I just want to be a pro all around," he said.
Jackson currently holds late day two of the draft value, meaning he could land near the bottom of round three.
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