Jackson was born and grew up in Windsor, Ontario before moving to Detroit, Michigan, and holds dual Canadian-American citizenship.[1][2] He attended Renaissance High School, where he originally played basketball and did not start playing football until his junior year.[3][4] Jackson committed to play college football at Iowa over offers from Iowa State, Nebraska, and Michigan State.[5]
College career
Jackson redshirted his true freshman season.[2] He started every regular season game for Iowa at left tackle during his redshirt freshman season and was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team and a freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.[6] Jackson missed the season opener of his sophomore season after being suspended for violating team rules, but started the final 12 games of the season and was named second-team All-Big Ten.[7] He missed three games due to injury as a redshirt junior and was named third-team All-Big Ten at the end of the season.[8] As a redshirt senior, Jackson was named first-team All-Big Ten and a second-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association after starting all eight of Iowa's games in the team's COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.[9]
Jackson entered the 2022 season as a backup offensive lineman. He was named the starting right guard in Week 3 for four games, then moved to left tackle for two games due to injuries. He was diagnosed with blood clots and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on November 16, 2022.[16]
Jackson was suspended the first two games of the 2024 season for violating the league's personal conduct policy.[17]