Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Overcame Early Doubts to Become One of Ohio State’s Top Leaders Entering 2025 Season
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Dan Hope on August 21, 2025 at 8:35 am
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At first, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. was overwhelmed when he realized it was his time to be the leader of Ohio State’s defensive line.
When Ohio State began winter workouts this offseason, Jackson didn’t feel ready to take on that responsibility. As he became an elder statesman of a defensive line tasked with replacing Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams, the weight initially felt like too much to carry.
Jackson persevered through those early doubts, however, and became comfortable with his leadership role by the middle of winter workouts. Now, the redshirt junior DE is embracing that role fully as he steps into a starting role for the first time.
“I'm going to be honest: I did not want to be the leader of this room at first,” Jackson told reporters last week. “In the winter, you know, it was tough. I don't tell nobody this, but there would be times, there would be days where (director of sports performance Mickey Marotti) and the other coaches would be hard on the D-line. And it would be tough. And I would go home and shed tears, like, real talk.
“It hit me where I had to be the guy. I had to be one of the leaders in the room. So it was kind of scary. But I stuck with it. The (coaches) helped me along with it. And we're here now.”
Over the past month, Jackson has drawn consistent praise from his coaches and teammates for how he’s stepped up as a leader. Even as Jackson dealt with his early internal struggles, new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said Jackson was one of the first players who stood out to him as a leader for the defense he inherited when he arrived at OSU in February.
“I think Kenyatta has just really from day one that I walked in the building, stepped forward and said, ‘OK, hey, let me be in front. Let me do the drill first. Let me learn. Let me do the lift,’” defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. “Whatever it is, it's like ‘Get me out in front. Let me go compete. Let me push myself.’ I think that everyone sees how hard he is pushing himself, and you can't help but gravitate towards that saying, ‘If this guy is working this hard, man, I got to get my stuff together. I got to go work as hard as he is,’ because he is setting the standard as we go forward. And I think everybody feels that.”
Kenyatta Jackson Jr. was initially overwhelmed by the responsibility of leading Ohio State’s defensive line. Now, the fourth-year DE enters 2025 as one of the Buckeyes’ top leaders.
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