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OL Donovan Jackson (All B1G, 1st Team All-American, 1st Team Academic All-American, National Champion)

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Five-star offensive guard Donovan Jackson will not be one of the dozen or so players* who will be enrolling early from this class.

Jackson’s Episcopal (Houston) High School does not allow for early graduation, and therefore he will not be afforded the opportunity to get into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center until the summer.
 
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Jackson earned his nomination in large part because of his work with the Challenger football program in the Houston area, a program that works with kids who have special needs.

“The kids come to the high school, we give them jerseys and equipment and make them a part of the team,” Jackson said. “We basically go through competitions and throw the ball with them. The cheerleaders come out and do face paintings.

“It’s one of those days that you circle on the calendar every year for (Episcopal High School) football. It’s a really cool event where all the kids come out and you throw the football with them and score some touchdowns. It’s a pretty cool thing we throw every year.”

The senior was also nominated for his work with food banks in the Houston area that helps provide food for low-income households and Meals on Wheels.

“I started doing (the food banks) when I was really young with AAU teams and even doing it on my intuition,” Jackson said. “I like what it’s going towards, and I like doing it with my family. We make it a competition to see who can bag the most food. It’s usually me or my sister who wins.

“We’ve also done Meals on Wheels, which is the same concept as the food bank where we bag and make lunches. A bus goes around the different neighborhoods and gives lunch to all the kids in the neighborhood. I did that as part of football, too, but the food bank is just a wider range.”

Jackson is pitted against five other high school All-Americans for the Man of the Year honor in uncommitted long snapper Connor Able, Ezra Dotson-Oyetade (Arizona State commit), Jahvaree Ritzie (North Carolina signee), Ty Thompson (Oregon signee) and Caleb Williams (Oklahoma signee). The winner will be announced on January 2 during a special two-hour “All-American Bowl: Declaration Day” shown on NBC.

If he wins, Donovan Jackson will become the third consecutive Ohio State signee to win the award, following in the footsteps of Garrett Wilson (2019) and Paris Johnson Jr. (2020) from the past two classes (in addition to joining 2020 signee Kourt Williams and 2019 signees Harry Miller and Zach Harrison as recent nominees for the award).

Just sayin': Ohio State getting players with that intangible "character" trait is big and I seriously doubt it's by chance/accident.
 
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And although he wasn’t in Columbus for spring practice with the Big Ten’s best program, Jackson has made sure he can hit the ground running when summer drills start.

“He’s been in our meetings through the spring,” Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa said. “He’s got the manual. He’s gotten things. We’ve talked about drill tapes, and we’ve watched drill tapes.

“Yes, he’s going to have the opportunity to come in there and be one of the five just like anybody else does.”

Jackson isn’t like many other lineman, though. He is a special talent. He possesses a skillset that is hard to teach, which is why he was honored as the Anthony Munoz High School Lineman of the Year by the All-American Bowl Selection Committee.

Donovan-Jackson_p9f70s.jpg



Ohio State has one of the deepest and most talented offensive line units in the country. Matthew Jones, Harry Miller, Luke Wypler, Josh Fryar and Paris Johnson are all batting for the three starting interior offensive line spots. Jackson will step in and make it a six-man competition as he gets acclimated to life at Ohio State.

“I’m going to play my brand of football,” Jackson told Lettermen Row. “I do understand there’s going to be a giant learning curve that I’ll have to get down quickly, because those guys are the best at where they came from.”
 
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That said, Day also had plenty of positive things to say about Ohio State’s offensive linemen last week in Indianapolis – and not only about the starting five.

Barring any surprises or injuries in preseason camp, Ohio State’s starting lineup up front already appears to be set: Paris Johnson Jr. at left tackle, Donovan Jackson at left guard, Luke Wypler at center, Matt Jones at right guard and Dawand Jones at right guard.

There’s no shortage of talent in that lineup – Johnson and Jackson were both five-star recruits, Wypler and Matt Jones were both rated as top-two centers in their recruiting classes and Dawand Jones is as physically gifted as any of them – and Day believes in all of their talent.

Matt Jones also saw regular playing time last season (459 snaps to be exact) as the offensive line’s sixth man, and Day believes the combination of Jackson and Jones could be an upgrade in the run game over last year’s starting guard tandem of Munford and Johnson.



Ryan Day Seeing Progress on Ohio State’s Offensive Line Entering Preseason Camp, But Building Depth Remains A Priority | Eleven Warriors
 
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