Jackson was born on November 9, 1998.[1] He attended Hillsboro High School and competed in both football and track and field.[2] As a junior in 2015, he had 39 total stops, an interception, and two defensive touchdowns.[3] The following season, he was named team captain and led the squad with 64 tackles, additionally having two interceptions, one of which he returned for a 100-yard touchdown.[2] At the same time, he won the city long jump championship while competing in track and field and participated at the state tournament.[2] He committed to play college football for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels over several other FCS offers.[3]
College career
As a true freshman at Eastern Kentucky in 2017, Jackson redshirted.[4] He saw limited action over the next two seasons, having 11 tackles in 11 games in 2018 and 15 tackles in 10 games in 2019 while appearing mostly on special teams.[4][5] He saw his first major action in 2020; starting at linebacker, he recorded a team-leading 79 tackles, as well as eight TFLs and 2.5 sacks, in nine games, three of which were played against FBS opponents.[5] The following season, Jackson posted 102 tackles, 11 TFLs, eight pass breakups, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in 11 games played, earning all-conference honors, being a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award for best FCS defensive player, and winning Phil Steele's ASUN Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award.[5][6][7] In his final year, 2022, he led Eastern Kentucky with 87 tackles and also compiled 7.5 TFLs, two fumble recoveries and two sacks on his way to being named all-conference and a third-team All-American by Stats Perform.[2][8]
After going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Jackson was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent.[10] He was one of five undrafted rookies to make the team's final roster.[11] He was waived on November 18 and re-signed to the practice squad three days later.[12][13] He was promoted to the active roster on January 6, 2024.
