The Florida State defensive tackle gives the Jets a high-upside interior presence after losing QW
The New York Jets used the 103rd overall pick on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft to select Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr., filling one of the more pressing voids on Aaron Glenn’s defense. Jackson becomes the third defensive player taken by the Jets this year, joining edge rusher David Bailey at No. 2 and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds at No. 50.
The pick lands with context. New York traded Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys ahead of this draft, leaving a significant gap at the interior of the defensive line. Jackson is not Williams, not yet, but at 6 feet 5 and 337 pounds with 35-inch arms, he arrives with the physical foundation to compete immediately.
What Jackson actually brings to Glenn’s defense
Jackson ranked fifth in the country in run stops in 2025 and ninth in pressure rate among defensive tackles in 2024. Those two data points tell the story of a player whose production has varied by season but whose physical tools have remained consistently elite. In 2024 he posted five sacks and 23 hurries. In 2025 that pass rush output dipped to one sack and 12 hurries, though his run defense remained reliable.
The Jets are not drafting the 2025 version and hoping for the best. They are betting that a player with his measurables, his pedigree, and his 2024 production represents exactly the kind of fourth-round upside worth taking when he slides to 103. Raw prospects with this kind of frame do not stay raw forever when they land in the right system.
Jackson is expected to compete with recently acquired nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat for snaps in the middle of the defensive line. The two together give Glenn a physically imposing interior rotation that the Jets have not had in some time.
The injury and the slide that worked in New York’s favor
Jackson was widely projected to go higher. A groin injury suffered during the pre-draft process damaged his momentum on team boards and pushed him past the point where several teams had him ranked. The Jets did not blink.
His consistency has also been a question mark beyond the injury. His production in 2025 did not match what his measurables suggested was possible, and that gap between physical ceiling and on-field output is what kept evaluators cautious. In the fourth round, that caution becomes another team’s loss and New York’s opening.
Family history and what it means for his profile
Jackson is the nephew of Dexter Jackson, the safety who won Super Bowl XXXVII MVP honors with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That connection does not make a prospect better, but it does speak to the football bloodlines that often matter when projecting how a player processes the professional game. Talent tends to travel in families that have already seen what the NFL demands.
At 23 years old this season, Jackson has time on his side. The Jets are not asking him to anchor the defensive line from day one. They are asking him to develop within a defense that is being rebuilt under Glenn, push for meaningful snaps against the run, and grow into a larger role as his consistency improves.
Given what the Jets lost up front and what they just added, that timeline is entirely workable.