Jonah
Jackson.
Jonah
Jackson.
Ohio State· 6'3"· 306 lb· 5.23s 40
"A Rutgers captain turned Ohio State graduate transfer who allowed one sack in 926 snaps at left guard and arrived with starting experience at center and both guard spots."Pre-draft read
Jackson is a technician at guard who wins with timing, angles and hand placement rather than mass. He is quick off the snap and usually engages a defender first, stealing leverage on contact. When beaten, he recovers well, resetting his feet instead of conceding the rep.
In pass protection he holds up against both speed and power and rarely gets isolated into a disaster. The run game is the softer half: a positional blocker more than a mover of bodies, best on zone tracks where he climbs and seals a linebacker rather than displacing a nose tackle. Add the ability to snap the ball and play either guard spot, and the value is in flexibility as much as any single trait.
Zone-blocking run game paired with a rhythm passing attack, where a technician who moves well matters more than a lineman who displaces bodies.
Year 1 starting guard in a zone scheme, with a ceiling as a Pro Bowl interior lineman and emergency center for a decade.
A gap-power offense built on double teams and short yardage, where his inability to displace a nose tackle becomes the reason the play fails.
The three-position flexibility is worth a roster spot by itself; it is what kept him valuable even in the seasons injuries took away.
Jonah Jackson (LG, #73) anchors in pass protection against Clemson (2019)
Isolated protection reps against a playoff-caliber front, the best evidence of the trait that carried him.
Jonah Jackson (LG, #73) pancake leads to big run against Michigan State (2019)
Run-game clip showing the finish he flashed when he had a leverage advantage.
Jonah Jackson at NFL Scouting Combine
Combine workout footage that framed the athletic questions about his run blocking.
Jackson spent four years at Rutgers before one season at Ohio State, and both halves matter. He was a backup in 2016, started five of six games at center and right guard in 2017, and started 11 of 12 games at right guard in 2018 as a team captain, earning honorable mention all-Big Ten on a line that ranked second in the conference in sacks allowed. He also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.
He transferred to Ohio State as a graduate in the summer of 2019, won the left guard job and started all 14 games for a College Football Playoff team. The production was the cleanest possible argument for him: 926 snaps, one sack allowed, no quarterback hits and nine hurries, with a 78.1 Pro Football Focus grade. He had already gone through two seasons at Rutgers without allowing a sack, so the pass-protection record was three years deep.
The concerns were physical and chronological. At 6-3 and 306 pounds with a 5.23 forty and 28 bench reps, he did not test as a mover of people, and evaluators flagged him as a below-average run blocker better suited to a zone scheme. He was also old for the class with less projection left than a typical junior. Detroit traded up in the third round and took him at 75 to start immediately at guard.
- 01
Pass protection
Allowed one sack in 926 snaps at Ohio State and none in two Rutgers seasons, the longest clean protection record of any guard in the class.
- 02
Positional versatility
Started games at center, right guard and left guard in college, which makes him worth a roster spot even in a backup role.
- 03
Snap quickness
Fires out and engages the defender before the defender engages him, stealing leverage that his listed weight would not otherwise earn.
- 04
Recovery ability
Rarely lets a lost first step become a lost rep, resetting his feet and staying attached rather than surrendering the pocket.
- 05
Second-level work
Has the movement skill to climb and seal linebackers in a zone run game, which is where his athletic profile fits best.
- 01
Run-game displacement
Lacks the raw strength to move defenders off the spot, so his run blocking is about position rather than creating a new line of scrimmage.
- 02
Scheme dependence
Clearly better in a zone-blocking system, which narrows the list of teams that get full value out of the pick.
- 03
Age and upside
A fifth-year graduate transfer who arrived close to his physical ceiling, with less development left than most players drafted around him.
- 04
Technique consistency
Reps do not always look clean, and the recovery ability that saves him in college gets exposed against NFL interior power.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.23sp50
- Vertical
- 26inp50
- Broad jump
- 98inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.83sp50
- Shuttle
- 5.02sp50
- Bench
- 28repp50
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rutgers | — |
| 2017 | Rutgers | 6 |
| 2018 | Rutgers | 12 |
| 2019 | Ohio State | 14 |
| Career | — | 32 |
Offensive linemen do not carry statistical lines, so only games and starts are recorded. Ohio State and Rutgers confirm five starts at center and right guard in 2017, 11 of 12 starts at right guard in 2018 and all 14 starts at left guard in 2019. His 2016 appearance total as a Rutgers backup was never published, so games are left blank rather than estimated, which also leaves the career games figure unpublished. Pro Football Focus charted 926 snaps and one sack allowed in 2019.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Versatile interior lineman who starts at multiple spots for a decade with one high-level season and a steady baseline.
The ceiling version, where a technically sound guard becomes a perennial Pro Bowl fixture and one of the best at the position.
Capable starter whose scheme fit and injury history keep him from ever locking down one job long term.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Jackson started from the first week and rarely stopped. He started all 16 games as a rookie in 2020 for Detroit, then started all 16 at left guard in 2021 and made the NFC Pro Bowl team. Injuries shortened the next two years, with 13 starts in 2022 and 12 in 2023, but he started every game he played and made two playoff starts as the Lions reached their first NFC Championship Game since 1991. He signed a three-year, $51 million deal with the Rams in March 2024, and a shoulder injury wrecked the season: four games and four starts across left guard, center and right guard, with a stint on injured reserve. Los Angeles traded him to Chicago for a sixth-round pick in March 2025, reuniting him with Ben Johnson, and he started all 17 games at right guard for a line that allowed the third-fewest sacks in the league, plus two playoff starts. Through seven seasons he has started all 79 games he has appeared in.
In hindsight this is a strong third-round return. A Pro Bowl season, a nine-figure free agent market and 79 starts from pick 75 is excellent value, and the traits that got him drafted, protection and versatility, are the ones that held up. The evaluation was also right about the limits: he never became a road grader, and his value dipped exactly when he was asked to anchor rather than move.
Data note: from Indianapolis