Michigan wide receiver Giles Jackson has entered the transfer portal. Jackson went through a surgery this off-season after his second year in a Wolverines uniform.
A member of the class of 2019, I gave Jackson a TTB Rating of 75 (LINK) and he ended up as a 76.
PSC Highlights put together a video of every kickoff return touchdown in the 2020 season, and what you’ll find if you watch the whole 15-minute video is that Giles Jackson’s kickoff return against Rutgers was the single most straight-line return of them all:
It was just a very unique kickoff return, and not to take anything away from Jackson, but he had to do less work than any other returner in this video.
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Cade McNamara. I wasn’t quite ready after the Wisconsin game, but now I’m ready. Quarterback Cade McNamara should be the starter going forward. He went 27/36 for 260 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, and he also ran in 1 touchdown. This happened after starter Joe Milton was 5/12 for 89 yards.
It’s 2020 and nobody knows anything, so here are my wild guesses for what we’ll see this year.
LEADING RUSHER Zach Charbonnet led the team in rushing as a true freshman last year with 729 yards. I do think Chris Evans will steal some of his carry share from last year, with Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum lurking, but Charbonnet should get the plurality of the opportunities. Prediction: Zach Charbonnet, 498 yards
Hit the jump for the rest of the prognostications.
Name: Giles Jackson Height: 5’9″ Weight: 179 lbs. High school: Oakley (CA) Freedom Position: Wide receiver Class: Sophomore Jersey number: #0 Last year: I ranked Jackson #61 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He made 9 catches for 142 yards and 1 touchdown, ran 10 times for 69 yards and 1 touchdown, and returned 24 kickoffs for 622 yards and 1 touchdown. TTB Rating: 76
As you can tell, Jackson didn’t redshirt in 2019. I thought he had a chance to play his way onto the field, mostly as a returner of some sort, but he was more involved in the offense than I expected. In addition to being named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten as a returner after averaging 25.9 yards per kickoff return, Michigan started to use him as a mismatch guy. He’s a super speedy receiver who can do the jet sweep thing, run wheel routes, run slot fades, etc.
Jackson probably deserves to be higher on this list here in 2020 now that fellow receiver Nico Collins has opted out of playing his senior season. Jackson was #7 on the team in receptions last year, and four of the guys ahead of him have departed. Michigan doesn’t have the height mismatch they had with the 6’4″ Collins, but they now have an array of speedy wideouts that can exploit linebackers and safeties.
Jackson ought to be a heavy contributor this season. With fellow slot receiver Ronnie Bell reportedly moving outside in Collins’s absence, that opens the door for Jackson, Mike Sainristil, A.J. Henning, and others to run RPOs from the slot. Jackson is not as tall as Bell, and without the basketball background, I’m not sure how well he would be able to handle high throws over the middle. But Jackson can threaten deep better than Bell, so there’s a trade-off. This should be a breakout year for Jackson, and I expect to see him used much the same way we saw K.J. Hamler play at Penn State.
Prediction: Starting slot receiver
Hit the jump for some of Jackson’s 2019 highlights.