9/20/2023 football Edit

Meet Kaleb Jackson: The freshman who went viral against Mississippi State

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

Kaleb Jackson is a home grown talent. Growing up in Baton Rouge, Jackson played his high school ball just three miles away from Tiger Stadium at Liberty Magnet. Jackson's freshman and sophomore year, Liberty Magnet was classified as a junior varsity football program despite playing a varsity schedule. But finally, during his junior year, Liberty Magnet was promoted to a varsity football program.

It was that same season that Jackson broke onto the scene, recording 2,425 total yards 33 total touchdowns in just 11 games in 2021. His performance propelled him up recruiting boards and made him the 12th ranked running back in the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Jackson received offers from schools all across the nation such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Penn State and Texas A&M. His mother told him that she wanted him to leave his hometown because she felt Baton Rouge wasn't a safe place, and her hope almost came to fruition with Jackson nearly committing to Texas A&M. Fortunately for Tiger fans, LSU's running backs coach Frank Wilson had other plans.

Wilson sat down with Jackson and his mother and told him what it means to put on for your home state every Saturday. He also explained to them that by going to LSU, it'll allow his family to be present for almost every game of his college career.

That talk was enough to get Jackson to change his mind, and in July of 2022, Jackson verbally committed to LSU before signing his letter of intent in December and becoming the second running back in LSU's 2023 class.

LSU not only gave Jackson a chance to represent his home state and allowed his family to watch him every Saturday, but it presented him with an opportunity to earn snaps as a freshman due to their running back by committee approach and Brian Kelly's willingness to play true freshman.

"I'm not afraid to play freshman, but I'm going to play the best players. If that's a freshman, I'm playing a freshman, if that's a graduate transfer, I'll play a graduate transfer. I think our track record shows that the best players are going to play, and if you're a freshman and you can handle it both mentally and physically, we'll put you one the field."

— Brian Kelly

Only three games into his freshman campaign, Jackson has already seen 16 carries. He's made the most of his opportunities, those 16 carries into 81-yards and two touchdowns.

As a true freshman trying to earn more playing time, there's two ways to make sure you'll continue to get it. Play well on special teams and make plays every time you get the ball. Jackson has already become LSU's main returner on kickoff, and on Saturday, Jackson made big plays in the run game, including one of the most violent trucks you've ever seen on a football field.

That clip went viral on social media, getting reposted by countless news outlets, former LSU players and celebrities. Jackson went from a true freshman not many people knew much about to a viral internet sensation in just a few minutes.

We asked Logan Diggs on Tuesday about the play, and he provided us with some insight on the teams reaction to Jackson's hit stick.

"When he ran over him he kind of stopped. We talked about it yesterday in our meeting and he said, 'Coming to the SEC they always talk about how hard they hit, but when I hit him and I saw his body fly I was kind of surprised a little bit, so I just stopped and looked at him.' Everyone was just making jokes saying, 'You were just admiring your work.'

— Logan Diggs

If there was ever any doubt about Jackson's ability to play football, it was put to rest on Saturday. As a true freshman, Jackson might be the most talented running back that the Tigers have, but Brian Kelly says he still has a lot to learn and a lot of room to get even better.

"The obvious answer is a physicality, explosiveness, but a young man that is still learning how to play this game. Remember, if you look back on his high school career, he was not a four year player. He's learning how to play the game every time he steps on the field. He's terrific to coach, I mean, the great part about it is, he doesn't have much baggage. He's learning a lot about the game as we go along. We're talking to him about some of the rules as it relates to kickoff...These are foreign things to him, so we're just teaching him the game and him learning the game is kind of where we're at with him. It's easy to see the raw, physical ability, but there's so much more to that."

— Brian Kelly

Through three games, Jackson has the second most rushing attempts out of any running back on LSU's roster, trailing only Logan Diggs. The past two weeks, Jackson has continued to show Brian Kelly and the rest of the staff why he deserves more playing time, and I think we can expect to see Jackson carve a bigger role in this offense as the season progresses.