TCU football adds pass rush depth with grad transfer who escaped OU’s ‘doghouse’
TCU had just 22 sacks last season, the fewest in the Gary Patterson era. The Horned Frogs are hoping they added a piece to help fix that on Thursday night.
Oklahoma defender Mark Jackson Jr. is joining TCU as a graduate transfer, he told Horned Frog Blitz publisher Jeremy Clark. Jackson is expected to play defensive end for the Horned Frogs.
Jackson had four sacks in his career at OU, highlighted by three sacks and seven tackles for loss in 2018. He started seven games in 2018.
Last season, though, Jackson found himself in Lincoln Riley’s “doghouse” for undisclosed reasons.
“Nothing egregious, just a couple small things, things we expected,” Riley told the Oklahoman in October when asked about Jackson appearing in only one of the first five games.
“He’s done a great job fighting his way back. We would have no issue playing him right now. We’ve just had some other guys in the meantime that have stepped up and taken that, and haven’t given us a reason to take it away from them now.”
Jackson ended up playing in just three more games the rest of the season, preserving his eligibility for a redshirt season. He is now headed to TCU to close out his college career.
Jackson will join the Frogs’ defensive end unit that features Ochaun Mathis, Colt Ellison, Parker Workman, Brandon Bowen, Thomas Armstrong and Khari Coleman. Mathis led the group with 2.5 sacks last season.
Jackson, who is listed at 6-foot-1, 238 pounds, was a highly touted prospect coming out of Cibolo Steele, choosing Oklahoma over Texas, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.
Jackson played in five games as a true freshman in 2016 at OU, recording two tackles, and played in 13 games as a sophomore in 2017.
