Texas Football: Top 2021 OT Donovan Jackson impressed during visit

A solid early target for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class this past weekend emerged as someone who appeared impressed from his time on the 40 acres.

A top target for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class was hosted on the Forty Acres amid a very important weekend of official visits for the program. The 2020 and 2021 Texas football recruiting classes had a large number of targets on campus this past weekend, including four-star Bellaire, TX, and Episcopal High School offensive tackle Donovan Jackson.

A few of the more notable visits for Texas football recruiting this past weekend included four-star 2019 JUCO inside linebacker Lakia Henry, four-star offensive tackle 2019 commit Javonne Shepherd, and five-star wide receiver Texas A&M Aggies commit Demond Demas. Jackson was one of a number of notable visits before National Signing Day 2019, on Feb. 6, which will round out the 2019 Texas football recruiting class.

If Texas football can get an early jump for the 2021 class on the recruiting trail by adding some standout offensive linemen, the rest of the group will form together quite nicely. Offensive line is one of the position groups that can be difficult to recruit at in the Big 12, especially with the level of competition out of the state of Texas.

However, that’s why there was so much emphasis on head Texas football coach Tom Herman and offensive line coach Herb Hand making a positive impact on prospects like Shepherd and Jackson over the weekend. At least on his Twitter timeline, Jackson appeared to be impressed from his recruiting visit to the Forty Acres during the weekend of Feb. 1.

During this pivotal recruiting weekend, Jackson was one of the more active Texas football targets on social media. Per Horns247, Jackson also seemed to come away with a positive impression of what the Forty Acres could offer him at the next level.

This is a big target for the Texas Longhorns 2021 recruiting class since offensive line can be a position of frequent turnover. Herman and Hand also need to establish a certain standard of success on the recruiting trail for landing offensive linemen to support their style of offensive scheme.

What Jackson could bring for the Horns is an offensive tackle capable of moving the pile on short running situations and provide the quarterback a lot of time in the pocket without collapsing it. Jackson is a strong offensive tackle that sits at 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds. He is one of the more sizable offensive tackles for this recruiting cycle as of this moment.

The early indications hold that Jackson could keep his intrigue within the state of Texas. The 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions give head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies the early lead to land Jackson’s commitment. Rivals FutureCast doesn’t give much of an indication as to his tendencies at this point, but FutureFanCast does give Texas football the edge.

Rivals doesn’t have any rankings in for the recruitment profile of Jackson yet. But, 247Sports composite ranking slots him as the nation’s No. 22 2021 high school prospect and the third best offensive tackle. That could change in the coming months and years, but this is a big early target for Texas football.