Donte Jackson is the corner the Panthers have been waiting for

Donte Jackson is the shutdown corner the Panthers have been missing.

More and more these days, it is rare when a draft pick produces right away for a football team. Luckily, the Carolina Panthers have several in the 2018 draft class that have produced right away. Donte Jackson is among the Panthers who have provided an instant impact and his addition to the secondary has made opponents wary of throwing the ball.

As soon as the Panthers drafted Jackson with the 23rd pick in the second round, the comparisons to Josh Norman began. Jackson was known as a player who played with physicality and was not afraid to let opponents know he was in the building. Sometimes, it’s bad for a team to have a player who talks as much as Jackson does. Especially for a rookie, that is oftentimes not a good look. However, Jackson has proved many wrong by backing up his talk with his play.

More from Cat Crave

Jackson has been nothing short of a ball hawk. According to the mid-season report written on Panthers.com, he has four interceptions on the year. That puts him in a four-way tie for first in the entire National Football League. As far as how that measures up in Panthers history, Doug Evans set the single-season record for interceptions with eight back in 2001. The rookie record for the Panthers is six. That was set by Panthers first-round pick Chris Gamble in the 2004 campaign. To put it simply, Jackson is approaching good company.

You couldn’t ask for Jackson to have a better start. This is what the Panthers envisioned when drafting him. They wanted someone who could take charge in the secondary and make big plays game after game. The organization probably expected him to play well in the future and not make an impact right away as he has so far this season. The fact that he has probably exceeded their expectations to this point is a very good thing. They had been missing a shutdown corner for years and now they have one.

For comparison’s sake, Norman only had one interception in his rookie season of 2012. Jackson has 33 tackles to this point in the season compared to Norman’s 50 tackles his entire rookie season. Jackson is averaging a tackle more per game to this point in the season then Norman did his entire rookie campaign. Also, Jackson has recorded a sack while Norman recorded none. It is safe to say that Jackson is besting the production of Norman in many areas when comparing rookie seasons. Not only that, we are only halfway through the year.

Of course as a rookie, he still has a lot to learn. One of the areas he needs to improve in is his tackling. Per statistics from Pro Football Focus, Jackson had a 37.1 tackling grade in Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers. That was his second-worst of the season. His worst rating came against the Eagles. In that contest, he recorded a 29.5 rating. Especially with a talented player, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.

Next. Offense mid-year analysis. dark

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out. With Donte Jackson off to such a great start, many hope that he can keep it up. If he can, the Panthers secondary should remain dangerous for the rest of the season. Especially in the NFC, where offense seems to be running rampant these days, having a solid secondary is key for success. That may make the difference between playing for it all in February and golf reservations in early January.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe
to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.

Home/Carolina Panthers News