Drake Jackson can’t tell you why he couldn’t put on weight at USC. But as hard as the Trojans’ top edge rusher tried last season, stuffing himself every moment he could, the extra meals never seemed to stick. By the end of the season, Jackson measured in at a mere 238 pounds, far lighter than he — or NFL scouts — were hoping.
So when his training for the NFL scouting combine began at Exos in the offseason, adding weight was a top priority. Now, with nothing else to do but train, the pounds piled up.
“This is what I was trying to do at SC,” Jackson said. “I couldn’t gain a pound to save my life. Got here, then got humongous.”
It’s not an exaggeration. Weighing in at nearly 270 pounds ahead of this week’s combine, the hulking Jackson barely fit inside the frame of a Zoom conversation he had with The Times last week. Muscles bulged in every direction.
His new size should help endear him to draft scouts who once saw Jackson as a surefire first-round pick. That status was called into question last season, as Jackson struggled to live up to the sky-high expectations in place from his freshman campaign, when his 5.5 sacks had some dreaming about his pass-rush potential.
He never matched that total again over two more seasons. But with the extra weight on his frame, Jackson is sure he won’t have any problem proving himself at the combine.
Forty pounds heavier, he said, “I still feel like a freak, you know?”
How convinced scouts are by that transformation should become clear this week.
“Just can’t wait to go put on a show, man,” Jackson said.
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