After addressing defense on day one of the draft with cornerback Jaire Alexander, Green Bay continued their quest to improve a beleaguered unit that ranked 26^th in points allowed in 2017. Green Bay started by selecting Joshua Jackson, a cornerback out of Iowa that many had predicted would be the pick at 14.

After getting a steal with Jackson in the 2^nd, Green Bay made an aggressive play to get back into the 3^rd round to select linebacker Oren Burks. Burks and Jackson, along with Jaire Alexander, are all players that are set to specifically aid Green Bay’s pass defense.

Today we take a look at the tape and break down exactly what Jackson and Burks can help with, and some areas where they will need to improve at the next level.

Joshua Jackson

The first thing that jumps out about Joshua Jackson is his athleticism. Yes he had a bit of a pedestrian 40-yard dash, but don’t worry about that. As you can see, his athletic score (via @mathbomb) is one of the better athletic scores for corners. The best part is that it’s easy to see Jackson’s athleticism translate on the field. Whether it’s his vertical jump, or explosion to the football, Jackson’s ability to use his athleticism to make plays on the football field is very apparent.

With the 45th pick in the #NFLDraft, the #Packers selected #JoshJackson.

Jackson posted an elite #RAS at the Combine despite a poor 40 time. His explosiveness is very good and agility is top notch, and he's a perfect fit for them schematically. pic.twitter.com/uB1jecFb4a

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 28, 2018

#Iowa CB Josh Jackson...Go up & finish the play. #Packers pic.twitter.com/6XXTSmR8qZ

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) April 28, 2018

#1 trait again. Jackson, not the receiver is the one attacking the football at it's highest point. Deflections and INT's, baby. pic.twitter.com/CRXLb10m7n

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Strengths

• Ball Skills/Playmaking
• Zone Coverage Ability
• Length
• Instincts/Anticipation
• Intangibles

Weaknesses

• Man coverage technique
• Gets beat inside too often
• Tackling

Ball Skills/Playmaking

In the Mike McCarthy era, the Packers’ defense has been best when forcing a high number of turnovers. Green Bay grabbed two players in Jackson and Alexander who should have yearly competitions to see who can lead the team in interceptions. Jackson’s knack for finding the football is uncanny but whatever you do, don’t call it lucky. Yes Jackson had some tips go his way this past season but Jackson consistently puts himself in position to find the football and make plays.

this clip pretty much sums up my feelings on both JJackson and Josh Allen. pic.twitter.com/M5qbqrYwDM

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

this stood out: Jackson's a monster in the red zone. If you want to clean up Green Bay's red zone defense, deploy 6'3" Kevin King and Josh Jackson. pic.twitter.com/ZshArxTruf

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

his hands are always on the ball. 26 combined PD+INT on just 91 targets per @PFF. That's a ridiculous rate of 28.6% pic.twitter.com/peDQUwUtKi

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Zone Coverage Ability

Where Jackson really excelled this past year was in zone coverage. When he was in zone and could keep his eyes in the backfield he was able to track the ball better, jump routes, and make plays. Jackson will need to work on his man-coverage technique a bit, but if Green Bay wanted to play a lot of Cover 3 on the outside they have two pretty incredible pieces to do so in King and Jackson on the outside. I should also mention that regarldess of coverage, Jackson didn't give up a play over 30 yards in 2017; that would be a welcome addition to the Packers' defense.

that, right there, is why Jackson wants to play off coverage and let a few short in-breaking routes happen. His instincts and ball skills are elite. He saw that play develop, trusted his safety help and made the play. pic.twitter.com/o4GJTnNhoP

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

 Length

The more you watch the film the more you see Jackson’s length on the outside bothering defenders. A part of it likely has to do with his explosive vertical jump and his ability to get to the football, but Jackson is pesky and has good size and bulk to handle more physical receivers.

these are all clips from my study of Jackson's game and are part of what have led me to believe he is the top corner in this class. pic.twitter.com/aOTWMwMoG4

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

this is Jackson's #1 trait that impresses me. Ball skills. In contested catch situations he's consistently the player who's attacking the football. pic.twitter.com/8BdXyTLumR

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

red zone monster pic.twitter.com/syiih3iVbE

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

more playmaking. He'll have to be quieter with his hands in the NFL. He's still got hands on well passed 5 yards. pic.twitter.com/ccHut19gpe

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Instincts/Anticipation

Jackson anticipates where things are going very well. You don’t capture eight interceptions in one season without the ability to read quarterbacks and jump routes. As mentioned above, Jackson excels in zone coverage and with his athleticism and ability to read quarterbacks and route trees, Jackson can shine at the next level.

there's more work from @Joshrando3 in the nickel spot. not just a boundary corner pic.twitter.com/r8rxMKdTgc

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Intangibles

One of the best parts about Jackson is that he’s a very clean prospect. He was a team captain at Iowa and had no notable injuries throughout his career. He fits the mold athletically and comes from a major Big 10 program. He has a basketball and track background and played both offense and defense in high school. Even if he doesn’t start right away he should be a major contributor on special teams from day one.

big time players make big time plays. pic.twitter.com/omPRlNbDM8

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Man Coverage

While Jackson excels in zone coverage, he needs to work on his man-to-man technique and concepts. He will flash at times the ability to re-route receivers and stay in their hip pocket, but he needs to be more consistent. This should come with good coaching over time.

Gets Beat Inside

Jackson and Kevin King are very similar in this regards. Both players are very adept at digs, outs, flys, posts, etc… but when it comes to quick slants or in-breaking routes, both players tend to struggle. It’s something that Jackson is going to need to work at on the next level and his ability to use his strength to reroute receivers at the line of scrimmage should help him overcome this specific deficiency.

Jackson has the same Achille's heel as Kevin King. In-breaking routes. Both like to give a little cushion so they can see the ball and use their athletic gifts and instincts to react to the play rather than physically dominate a receiver. pic.twitter.com/3ETNovzIV3

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

those damn in-breaking routes again. You'd like to see him use the sideline as a weapon and drive on in-breaking routes more. Less fear of the out route and the deep release. pic.twitter.com/VoYr4mcGNU

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Tackling

Jackson’s not a horrible tackler but he needs to do a better job of wrapping up. You will often see Jackson hit players and try to knock them out rather than make the safe tackle while wrapping up. It’s correctable but something that will need to be worked on.

tackling technique is something he'll need a good CB coach to work on. Jackson's a WR convert but he's willing to stick his nose in there. pic.twitter.com/hL49c4zYNk

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

again, it's not technically proficient, but there are a lot of corners, much less ex-wideouts, that aren't gonna give that kind of effort when they're elite cover guys. pic.twitter.com/pcBfUesnew

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) April 5, 2018

Oren Burks

Think about this for a second. Oren Burks played safety, edge rusher, and inside linebacker in three years at the SEC level and never looked out of place. That’s incredible. It should be noted that while Burks never looked out of place, he never really felt comfortable either. He was able to hold his own with his athleticism but the constant movement and lack of a true position over his career hurt his development as a player. The tape isn’t always pretty.

What’s great about Burks, however, is that he projects very well to the next level. Burks will settle in at inside linebacker and he won’t need to worry about all of the moving around and playing different positions. Where Burks will fit best immediately is specifically as a nickel and dime linebacker, replacing Joe Thomas and Morgan Burnett from a season ago. Burks has the coverage skills of a safety in a linebackers’ body and also has the ability to blitz as evidences as his move to edge rusher earlier in his career. He’s really the perfect pass specialist at the inside linebacker position.

Like Jackson and Alexander, Burks is another athletic freak who has every trait desirable at the linebacker position.

Strengths

• Pass Coverage
• Football IQ/Play Speed
• Versatility
• Special Teams

Weaknesses

• Holding up at the point of attack
• Finishing
• Overcommits
   

Pass Coverage

pic.twitter.com/62dHmstGF5

— Andy Herman (@GradingThePack) May 2, 2018

pic.twitter.com/rwTLOrXkV4

— Andy Herman (@GradingThePack) May 2, 2018

This is where Burks is really going to make his money at the next level. Burks can be a weapon against tight ends and running backs out of the backfield and in a super rare occasion where you want to bring an exotic blitz he may even be able to cover a receiver just well enough to allow the blitz to get home. At 6’3’’ he has tremendous size and he has above average arm length and wingspan. He can be an absolute weapon in cover 2 as quarterbacks will struggle to get the ball over the top of him in the middle of the field. Burks should be able to supplant Joe Thomas and be a much better version of him in the coming years.

Football IQ/Play Speed

Burks is quick to diagnose players and displays an above average football IQ. You can tell that he’s seen the field from a variety of different angles and concepts and he reads things incredibly well. When you watch him play he diagnoses run plays quickly by keying on pulling linemen and is quick to his spots. Sometimes he will over run plays (we will get to that in a moment) but he generally puts himself in a good position to make a play.

#Packers 3rd round pick - Oren Burks (@BangTimeBurks)... Athleticism jolted into the core of the defense...

Screen passes? That’s where Burks shines! #Packers had a problem with those last season.. 8 different RBs hit screen passes for 20+yds in 2017 pic.twitter.com/yd4P60i0Yj

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) April 30, 2018

That’s our very own @VandyFootball Oren Burks #53 with the tackle @BangTimeBurks @ItsOrderMySteps #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/S8Vev27hnp

— BettyO (@bodeyingbo) January 27, 2018

Oren Burks does it again as he gets into the backfield to stuff Samuels behind the line. You didn’t hear much about Burks during the week, besides the fact that he was a late addition. This guy can play. Superb diagnosis and angle straight to the ball carrier. pic.twitter.com/B32bAIv4yF

— Jonathan Valencia (@JonValenciaBF) January 30, 2018

See the athleticism a bit here. Playing MIKE. pic.twitter.com/jMlTme7CBa

— Jared Stanger (@JaredStanger) March 5, 2018

Versatility

As we’ve mentioned already he showed the versatility in college to play multiple positions. He will need to figure out his niche in the NFL but he has the athletic ability to matchup with any tight end or running back, blitz off the edge and even stay with receivers. He will be a weapon on special teams and is a near lock to be active on game days due to his ability to fill in multiple spots in a pinch.

Pretty fun to watch young Oren Burks at free safety  pic.twitter.com/rUJAd58eR2

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) April 30, 2018

Oren Burks tape. Far hash, stacks the OL, sheds, and makes the tackle. pic.twitter.com/wsfYuhnIsA

— Jared Stanger (@JaredStanger) March 5, 2018

Special Teams

I would expect Burks to quickly be an ace special teams player for Ron Zook and his staff. As we’ve touched base on Burks is a freak athlete and he should be used on all coverage units. The more Burks can do for the team the more value he adds and I have a feeling he’s going to find his way on the field in a variety of situations sooner rather than later.

Strength at Point of Attack

While you can tell that Burks was a safety because of his coverage, you can also tell that Burks was a safety because of his strength at the point of attack in the run game. You aren’t going to see Burks come up and stack and shed very often and he’s going to get overpowered by 310+ pound linemen. Don’t confuse Burks for a base linebacker, however, he’s here (at least to start) to play on pass downs and he won’t be asked to disengage from too many guards on obvious passing downs.

pic.twitter.com/uGfO9RQLD7

— Andy Herman (@GradingThePack) May 2, 2018

Finishing

In a similar vein to holding up at the point of attack, Burks also needs to do a better job of finishing his tackles when he has the opportunity. Burks doesn’t always play strong and this is something he needs to work on. Hopefully players like Mike Daniels can light a little bit of a fire underneath Burks to get him to play with a bit more tenacity and adding functional strength in the weight room over the next couple seasons will be paramount.

Overcommitting/Over running plays

Burks has a tendency to over commit himself and/or overrun plays, especially in the run game. Burks plays fast and overall that’s a good thing, you don’t want players who are hesitant to make a play on the ball; however, Burks does need to learn a bit more control and find ways to slow himself down so more agile players don’t leave him grasping at air. This should come with more reps in the linebacker position.

pic.twitter.com/hFrMdTubji

— Andy Herman (@GradingThePack) May 2, 2018

Overall both Burks and Jackson have the opportunity to help the Packers soon rather than later. Both should have immediate value on special teams and it wouldn’t be surprising to see both players in specific passing packages early in their careers. I feel fully confident that if Jackson needs to start at some point this year that he will be game ready in a hurry. Burks may need a bit more time before he can become a fulltime linebacker, but he’s ready to contribute in nickel and dime today. If Green Bay found themselves a starting corner and a linebacker who can be a weapon covering backs and tight ends on third downs; it will have been an incredibly successful day two of the NFL Draft.

Find yesterday’s breakdown on Jaire Alexander here: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/film-review-jaire-alexander-131

Lastly, huge kudos to Ross Uglem (@rossuglem) who found 99.9% of these Josh Jackson videos and posted them on his timeline. Usually I find the videos on my own but Ross crushed his Jackson thread out of the park. Please follow Ross on Twitter at @RossUglem