Darrell Jackson Jr. spent Week 5 making the most of a major Jets opportunity

New York Jets veteran linebacker Demario Davis turned heads upon calling Sunday afternoon a “historic win” for the long-suffering franchise. 

In regard to his own career, rookie defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. might find himself nodding in agreement. 

Jackson stuffed the stat sheet against the Browns, recording his first career sack and breaking up two passes. He also tallied four tackles for the second straight week and played a pivotal role in the Jets’ mostly impressive defensive outing. 

Without veering into overreaction territory, it might finally be time to get excited about the Jets’ other fourth-round pick. 

What to know about New York Jets rookie defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. 

Jackson was the Jets’ fifth selection this past spring, and he went seven spots ahead of Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. He likely would’ve drawn attention from fans only if he dominated the preseason or looked awful and overmatched. 

We rightfully spent so much time talking about Klubnik and the Jets’ offensive rookies, and second-round corner D’Angelo Ponds essentially had his own fan club. Things got to a point where we argued that No. 2 pick David Bailey had fallen under the radar. 

But there was Jackson on Sunday afternoon, dominating the trenches on only 43 percent of the Jets’ defensive snaps. Putting up those numbers across 29 snaps goes a long way toward paving the road for additional playing time. 

Calling Jackson an “unknown” during the draft process is a step too far, seeing as he played at Florida State and attended the NFL Combine. He earned All-ACC honorable mentions in both seasons with the Seminoles, and he wasn’t a projected late-round pick, but he went much earlier than expected. 

You cannot convince us, though, that you believed Jackson would average 34 percent of the Jets’ defensive snaps over five weeks. Not when Harrison Phillips, David Onyemata, and Jowon Briggs were ahead of him on the Week 1 depth chart. 

Onyemata has since undergone core muscle surgery, and Phillips has been underwhelming. What better time for Jackson to properly take advantage?

And although the Patriots have only allowed two sacks in the last two weeks, they lost left tackle Will Campbell to a knee injury on Sunday. Campbell is expected to miss next week’s showdown in Foxborough, news that potentially bodes well for a Jets defense fresh off an eight-sack outing. 

New England has won 20 of its past 24 games against the Jets since the start of 2014.

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