Local 3* OL Jackson Brown Commits to Cal Football
The local product joins Vatikani as the second OL in the 2022 class
3-Star OL Jackson Brown committed to the Bears via his IG Live commitment video!
The 6’5” 275 lbs. OL from the local Bay Area holds 19 offers, with a couple of teams in the Pac-12 offering him (Arizona, Cal, Colorado, and WSU). His main choices were Cal and Pitt where his dad played before going into the NFL to block for Dan Marino.
He offers tremendous size at the position and a frame to add bulk without losing too much agility. He has the prototypical length for the tackle spot, and the attitude to set the tone for the game. By attitude I mean: he plays wanting to make life miserable for the defender in front of him: as if that defender dared to claim that Prof. Ackerlof’s contributions to the field of economics of information asymmetry were ‘minor’, the cheek.
Here is what SGBear has to say about Brown’s tape:
Jackson Brown is not a pretender. He is a 6’6” 285 pounds rising senior (c/o ’22) who plays offensive tackle at San Ramon Valley in Danville. His father is Tony Brown, an all-American offensive lineman at Pitt blocking for Dan Marino and then later playing in the NFL. Unfortunately, cancer claimed Tony when Jackson was 6 years old. As recruiting heated up for Jackson, he spoke fondly of perhaps trying to fill his father's shoes at Pitt and or maybe going to his mom’s alma mater of USC. He was somebody’s baby, but it was the hometown Cal Bears that won his heart. Until his sophomore year in high school, Jackson focused more on basketball.
You can see that he was a tall, lanky player as a sophomore playing in what appears to be the junior varsity squad. But he started to fill out and realized that football was his future, so he focused on strength training. He hit the gym and packed on a bunch of weight. He looks completely transformed in his junior year highlight video. He is much bigger and bulkier. Despite the size, he still has good flexibility, is quick off the line, and has decent footwork on his pass blocking. We’ve now got enough history to see that Angus McClure has an archetype – quick for a lineman, relatively mobile to be able to do zone blocking, and a frame large enough to develop more weight rather than the hulking bully-ball linemen with college-ready bodies that Washington and Oregon have the luxury of attracting.
The second thing that really sticks out is Jackson’s nasty streak. He does not shy away from smashing an already defeated player on the ground, driving a guy 20 yards downfield, or smacking a guy well away from a play. He probably needs to de-emphasize his grabby handwork, which Pac-12 refs might call for holding.
His recent physical development and the Covid shortened season means that there is a dearth of a relevant video on him. His teammate’s highlight reel reinforces my initial thoughts but also shows that Jackson’s field awareness could benefit from more experience as he is sometimes a fraction of a second indecisive on screens, traps, and stunts. He will also get better conditioning as he gets used to his newfound bulk because he – as o-linemen tend to do - sometimes he does Take It Easy a bit after several seconds into a play as if he’s Running on Empty. These Days, it’s all normal stuff – even for a highly rated recruit.
Another good way to get supplemental video is to look at the good players that Jackson played against. I looked at the Hudl highlights of Jackson’s counterparts at De La Salle, Clayton Valley, Las Lomas, and Bishop O’Dowd – half of which have D1 offers. While the counterparts had their fair share of good plays, none of the highlights were because they immediately beat Jackson, and most were due to a teammate getting beat or play developing that took too long (eg, coverage sack). Doctor, My Eyes got tired from looking at all this video… but I’m pretty fired up about what I have seen.
As a distinguished (in my own mind) premium member, let me be the first to thank Piotr and SG for this excellent article.
This kid plays with a great attitude, lots of pancakes and facials.
Welcome to the Bear family Jackson! Try to emulate Alex Mack in being so smart and so tough that you get a long and highly rewarding career at Cal and beyond. More than anything, your Cal degree will help you the rest of your life. My life pivoted at the moment I chose Cal, and I've been blessed ever since. Go Bears!