Jackson Jeffcoat, DE

05/20/2013 - 2013 LOTT IMPACT TROPHY WATCH LIST: Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas...Jeffcoat is a fourth-year defensive lineman who has appeared in 27 games with 20 starts, posting 117 tackles (59 solo), 38 TFL, 14.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries (one for a TD) and 22 QB pressures. He posted at least one sack in 10 of his last 13 games with a total of 12 over that span. Jeffcoat was sidelined for the final seven games of 2012 after suffering a right pectoral muscle rupture versus Oklahoma. He was named to the 2012 Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award and CFPA Defensive Lineman of the Year Trophy watch lists.

Jeffcoat was a 2011 second team All-Big 12 selection (Coaches, AP, Kansas City Star, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) and was named honorable mention Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2010. He was a prep All-American, two-time first-team all-state and all-area and three-time first-team all-district selection at defensive end and was named to PARADE's All-America High School Football Team. He also earned first-team All-USA honors by USA Today.

Jeffcoat is active both in UT's community service program and has also made efforts of his own in both the Austin and greater Dallas communities. Most recently he made a trip to Perez Elementary School in Austin to read to first graders and kindergarteners to promote reading on "Read Across America Day." He took it a step further by reading in Spanish to bilingual first graders whose first language is Spanish. - Mack Brown Texas football

Full Jackson Jeffcoat News Wire

Jeffcoat signed with Texas as a hotly recruited prospect and emerged as an immediate standout, starting two games as a true freshman and finishing the year with 15 tackles, six tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Operating with his hand in the dirt as well as a stand-up pass rusher in defensive coordinator Manny Diaz's aggressive scheme, Jeffcoat exploded a year ago to register more tackles (71) and tackles for loss (21) than batterymate Alex Okafor and tied him for the team lead with eight sacks, but was recognized with "only" second-team honors from the league's coaches despite his big statistics.

The son of former Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills' standout Jim Jeffcoat, Jackson has greater upside as an NFL pass rusher than Okafor but remains a bit hit or miss, at this time.

Jeffcoat relies on his get-off and lateral agility as a pass rusher and too often is controlled by his opponent when his initial burst isn't enough to beat them. Possessing the lanky frame to add more muscle mass and remain at defensive end in the NFL or remain at a similar size to project better as a stand-up outside linebacker for the 3-4 scheme, Jeffcoat has the natural pass rush ability to earn first-round consideration of his own ... and the scary thing is he's only entering his third season of college football.

--Rob Rang