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DT Antwuan Jackson (St. Louis Battlehawks)

Camp Pick. Number change from 51 to 52.

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More and more playing time for Jackson. He is doing well and will be a key clog on the DL next year.

I'm loving how much PT our backups are getting on both sides of the ball. Definitely going to help with the transition next year. Jackson has flashed at several points this year, I think he's in for a big season in 2020.
 
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6 Buckeye Football Players Facing Important Springs: Defense

Spring football can seem like one of the less-intense parts of the year for a college football player. Far from the bright lights and screaming crowds of the fall, those 15 spring practices are nonetheless one of the most important months in many players’ careers.

It’s the time when the young backups finally get a chance to replace the departed stars and run with the first-team.

It’s also the first chance the early-enrolling freshmen get to start building their case for playing time.

But there is a third category of player on the roster this spring: veterans who are still working to earn their way to regular playing time.

These mostly aren’t guys who were top backups last year, and in line for the starting job this season. These are players who’ve been working for several years to get onto the two-deep or into the regular rotation, and who seemingly have a clearer path to get there this fall.

DT Antwuan Jackson, RS Senior

Like QB Gunnar Hoak, who appeared on the list for offense, Jackson is another player who thought about coming to OSU out of high school, didn’t, and then transferred to be a Buckeye later.

He enrolled at Auburn in 2016, took a redshirt season, and then spent 2017 at Blinn Junior College.

Jackson signed with the Buckeyes, but only appeared in four games in 2018, recording one tackle.

He played in 12 games for the Bucks in 2019, recording 13 tackles, including 3.5 for loss.

This fall, OSU has to replace both Da’Von Hamilton and Robert Landers at the nose tackle position, leaving the door wide open for Jackson to earn a regular spot.

Talented junior Tommy Togiai figures to earn the starting position, but Jackson should be at the front of the line to get into the rotation behind him.

Entire article: https://theozone.net/2020/01/6-buckeye-football-players-facing-important-springs-defense/
 
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DT: ANTWUAN JACKSON

Jackson, like some of the other players on this list, is a player who came to Ohio State with substantial hype – he was the No. 1 junior college recruit in the class of 2018 – but has faded into the background after a quiet start to his career. In his final season as a Buckeye, though, Jackson should have a big opportunity to remind Ohio State fans (some of who used to ask us beat writers for updates on Jackson as much as just about any other player) why he was once a player so coveted that Larry Johnson recruited him twice (out of high school and out of Blinn College).

Following the departures of DaVon Hamilton, Jashon Cornell and Robert Landers, Ohio State is suddenly a bit thin at defensive tackle, and Jackson has a big chance to finally become a significant factor in the rotation as a result. He likely projects as the No. 2 nose tackle behind Tommy Togiai, but he played snaps at both nose tackle and 3-technique last season, and that versatility could go a long way in ensuring he’s on the field regularly in 2020.

Hamilton and Cornell both emerged as NFL draft prospects with big improvement as fifth-year seniors last season, and it's feasible that Jackson could do the same if he can make a similar leap in 2020.
 
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Ohio State believes Antwuan Jackson can make a difference along the defensive line.

If the Buckeyes didn’t think that, they wouldn’t have recruited him twice. Jackson, a former four-star recruit from Georgia, originally picked Auburn over Ohio State late in the recruiting cycle of 2016.

When it didn’t work out with the Tigers, Jackson went to community college, then had a chance to pick the Buckeyes again. He did, and now heading into his final season at Ohio State, he could make a huge impact on the defensive line that continually pumps out NFL prospects.

The Buckeyes could have a deep unit this season.

“I think the inside guys are the biggest key,” legendary Buckeyes defensive line coach Larry Johnson said. “Looking at Haskell Garrett, Tommy Togiai, Taron Vincent, Jerron Cage, Antwuan Jackson — those are the guys on the inside who have to really step up. As we were going through the three days of practice, I thought those guys were on the right track to be able to contribute in the fall.”

Garrett and Togiai were contributors on last season’s dominant defense that was loaded in the defensive front. Cage and Jackson stepped in when needed and made plays. Jackson has one more season with the Buckeyes to find a bigger role than just “stepping in.” And Ohio State needs more defensive tackles to be ready for expanded roles, especially with the departure of three key interior linemen.

Jackson could be just what the Buckeyes need. He’s 6-foot-2 and 295 pounds. He has shown he can cause disruption and produce, even if many of his noteworthy plays from a year ago were late in blowouts. If given the chance to be a regular in the rotation, Jackson could reach the potential Johnson and the Buckeyes saw in him when they first recruited him in 2015 — and again in the 2018 recruiting cycle.

“Looking at Haskell Garrett, Tommy Togiai, Taron Vincent, Jerron Cage, Antwuan Jackson — those are the guys on the inside who have to really step up.

Just sayin': With Landers, Hamilton, and Cornell gone it's definitely "step up" time at the DT position, etc. With the potential of those 5 guys (above), Ohio State might have a pretty strong "2 deep " at DT too.
 
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“It’s been awesome,” Jackson said last year. “I know I may have chose Auburn at first, but now I’m here and I’m embracing it. … I love it here, I love Ohio State.

“When I decided to transfer and was in Texas [at junior college], schools were reaching out. But in the back of my mind, I knew I wanted Coach J the whole time. ”
 
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It’s honestly not a path that many recruits who spurn the Buckeyes ever get to take. Recruits who get close to the coaching staff at Ohio State but ultimately choose another program don’t usually get a chance to correct course if things don’t go as planned elsewhere.

Larry Johnson accepted a commitment from Jackson when he was a high school senior. The Cedar Grove (Ellenwood, Ga.) 4-star prospect never publicly committed to Ohio State, though, and he ended up flipping to Auburn and playing there as a freshman.

But it was the relationship with that Johnson he kept thinking about. It resonated differently.

“It was very special,” Jackson said. “He built a relationship with me, but also my dad. My dad had been coming off of a stroke, and he made a real good connection with him and I really loved that.”

But still, Jackson picked Auburn despite his father preferring the Buckeyes.

“I was just young, and I just didn’t understand,” Jackson said. “I just didn’t really get it. My dad was really telling me: ‘Ohio State, Ohio State.’ Nothing was wrong with Auburn. Auburn was still a good school, just being there I was really thinking about Coach J a lot and how he could develop me. We built that relationship still when I went to junior college, we were still building that connection.”

When Jackson was the country’s No. 1-ranked junior college defensive tackle at Blinn College in Texas, Johnson wasn’t going to let him go a second time.

“It is unique,” Johnson said on Wednesday. “Very seldom do we go back and get a guy that committed to us, and decommitted to go somewhere else, and then come back to us. That’s tough to do.”
 
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