Ja'Quinden Jackson talks UT, decision timeline and his desire to stay at QB
Duncanville quarterback Ja’Quinden Jackson is one of the most intriguing prospects in the state of Texas for the 2020 class. For one, Jackson is an elite prospect and a dynamic athlete at the quarterback position. On top of that, he rarely talks about recruiting, so getting a good handle on what Jackson is thinking with the recruiting process can be a bit challenging.
On Sunday, Jackson took part in The Opening regional camp in Dallas, where he checked in at an impressive 6-2 and 219 pounds, and he showed one of the day’s strongest arms in rocketing passes all over the field. Overall, Jackson said he felt good about his showing.
“I think I did well. There’s always room for improvement but I did all right. I think I showed that I can throw,” Jackson said. “A lot of people tell me I can’t throw, I can just run. So I think I showed a little bit.”
A dynamic dual-threat quarterback who led Duncanville to the state championship game in December, Jackson is aware that some people view him as an athlete more than a quarterback, with people often projecting that he could wind up on defense at the next level. He said he tunes those talks out and lets his play on the field do the talking.
“I don’t care what people say. That doesn’t bother me at all,” Jackson said. “My stats speak for themselves.”
Do they ever. Last year, as a junior, Jackson completed 63.6 percent of his passes in throwing for nearly 1,600 yards with 15 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He added just shy of 1,500 yards (10 ypc) and 23 touchdowns on the ground.
Jackson has the size and athleticism to compete at a number of positions (he runs the 4X100 and 4X200 for the Duncanville track team at 219 pounds), but he said he’s determined to stay at quarterback at the next level.
“I kind of already have my mind made up what I want to do. I’m going to stick to playing quarterback,” Jackson said. “I don’t do anything else but play quarterback, so I don’t want to go to college trying to play something else and I haven’t been working on it. So I’m going to stick to playing quarterback.”
A Rivals250 member, Jackson said Texas and Oklahoma talk to him the most about playing quarterback. As for which schools are standing out, Jackson isn’t quite ready to tip his hand.
“I can’t speak on that. You all will find out one day,” Jackson said. “I’m staying quiet on that right now.”
The Longhorns have been actively recruiting Jackson for a while and he’s been on the UT campus a couple times for visits. When he does begin to officially narrow his focus, Texas will have a strong chance to make the cut.
“It’s a great school. They have a great program,” Jackson said. “And they had a great season this year. They beat Georgia, which surprised me. They have a good thing going on at Texas.”
With close to 30 scholarship offers from college football’s power programs, Jackson will pretty much have his choice of where he wants to school when it’s time to decide. He has a plan for how he wants to attack the recruiting process, and isn’t expecting to have a final decision until next January.
“I’ll start narrowing it down this summer and I’ll have my top schools before the football season starts. I will be saying where I’m going when I go to Orlando for the Under Armour All-American Game. I’ll make my announcement where I’m going there,” Jackson said.