It's definitely a new age of college sports where an athlete transferring elsewhere is just the norm now. Having someone stay in your program for five years, with a redshirt season mixed in there, is growing more and more the minority.
Oregon Ducks linebacker Devon Jackson is in the minority.
He arrived on campus in 2022 as a four-star recruit and one of the top players to come out of the state of Nebraska. Jackson could have easily gone to the Cornhuskers and started from Day 1. But instead, he decided to come to Oregon, develop, bide his time playing behind the likes of Bryce Boettcher, Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti.
Now it's time to show that his patience is about to pay off as Jackson is set to be a starting inside linebacker for one
of the best defenses in the country. Everyone is excited to see him go out there and perform, but no one is more excited to see Jackson out there more than Jackson himself.
"Man, I'm ready. I'm ready to just show it every play because this is it," he said. "This is the only guarantee that I have for myself. I wasn't a Dante (Moore) or a Stu (Evan Stewart) or a Poncho (Iapani Laloulu) or all those other guys that they could have went to the league. I'm just being honest.
"This is do or die for me. And so, like, I have to bring it every day. There is no other option. There was no choice. It's do or die now. And we're going to do it together to get where we want to go, for sure."
Jackson may have been talking about the team, but he could have been talking about himself, also. He's a fifth-year senior who has one more chance to show scouts and, more importantly, some Big Ten offenses that he's a linebacker not to be messed with.
For his career, the 6-foot-2, 242-pounder from Omaha has 106 tackles, 4.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks. There's no reason to believe Jackson won't blow by most of those stats in just this season alone and that he won't be joining some former and current teammates in the NFL playing on Sunday.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon linebacker Devon Jackson forecasts 'do or die' season
