For Penn State football’s 2024 freshman class, the 2023 season was supposed to be a magical one but it didn’t quite happen that way for Kari Jackson.
The linebacker from West Bloomfield, Michigan committed to Penn State in February 2023 and was poised to polish off his high school career that fall.
But he suffered an injury during the first game of his senior season that proved to be serious enough to take him out of the whole campaign.
Now, Jackson’s back and ready to make a name for himself as a linebacker playing at LBU. He’s the latest subject of All 105, a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player.
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 226 pounds
Hometown: West Bloomfield, Michigan
Before Penn State: Although the injury cost Kari Jackson virtually all of his senior season, he still turned in a stellar high school career, which is why Penn State wanted him. He started his career at West Bloomfield High School, played his sophomore season at Florida’s famous IMG Academy. He returned to play his upper classman years at West Bloomfield. He helped West Bloomfield to a state title as a freshman and was an all-state performer by the end of his junior season. That season, he ended up with 103 tackles (65 solo), three sacks, 26 tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and six QB pressures.
Where he stands: It’s hard for freshmen to get much playing time right off the bat, and the combination of Jackson’s youth, Penn State’s talent at linebacker and him coming off an injury makes it seem more likely that he’ll redshirt then have a big role in Year 1. With that said, Jackson hits hard and could be a force for Penn State at the SAM position or elsewhere in the future.
A quote by Jackson: “I love the game of football but it comes with different adversities,” Jackson said. “So being able to go through those adversities and add those as chips on my shoulder, being able to prove myself and using everything as motivation, including an injury, it just kinda fueled my fire. Things happen that are bad, but sometimes you have to make the bad things good.” — Jackson on his injury via Tyler Donohue of Lions247
A quote about Jackson: ”He’s a stat-stuffer. This is a guy that was averaging like 10 tackles a game his junior year.” — Recruiting Coordinator Alan Zemaitis on Jackson during Signing Day this past December.
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