The Jets, using one of only two of their “own” selections in the 2026 NFL Draft (after trading all the others), opened the NFL’s third day of drafting on Saturday afternoon with the third pick of Round 4, which they used to take DT Darrell Jackson Jr. from Florida State.
Jackson will be another large body that the Jets will move into their interior D-line defense. He is listed as 6-5½ and 315 pounds and with 34 3/4″ arms and 11-inch hands.
With that massive frame, Jackson moved from Maryland to the University of Miami to FSU in his five-year college career. His 2023 was a redshirt season since he transferred from the Hurricanes to the Seminoles without entering the transfer portal after his previous transfer.
In 2024-25 he started all 24 of Florida State’s games and totaled 77 tackles, 7 TFLs, 4.5 sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. He received All-ACC honorable mention after both seasons.
His videotape shows an unevenness in his play, but as Lance Zierlein said on NFL.com, his “size and length could be considered unmined gold by some teams.” One of them is HC Aaron Glenn’s Jets.
Jackson is the 12th player from Florida State to be selected by the Jets. Most recently, CB Azareye’h Thomas came to the team in Round 3 last year. Other Seminoles drafted by the Jets include CB Bobby Jackson (1976), DT Gerald Nichols (1987), LB Marvin Jones (1993), WR Laveranes Coles (2000), RB/KR Leon Washington (2006) and edge Jermain Johnson (2022).
Jackson is the third player to be picked by the Jets at 103rd overall since the start of the common draft in 1967. WR/QB/KR Brad Smith arrived from Missouri for a short but productive stay in green and white in 2006, and QB Bryce Petty had a shorter tenure after being taken out of Baylor in 2015.
Round 4 is famously a very strong draft round for many teams and the Jets are one of them. Among their fourth-round contributors over the years are DE John Ebersole (1970), RB Scott Dierking (1977), CB Johnny Lynn (1979), T Jason Fabini (1998), WR Jerricho Cotchery (2004), Brad Smith (2006), S Kerry Rhodes (2005), Leon Washington (2006), RB/KR Joe McKnight (2010, RB Bilal Powell (2011) and young prospects from the previous two drafts, RB Braelon Allen (2024) and S Malachi Moore (2025).