15 September 2023
MANHATTAN (KSNT) – The biggest surprise for K-State football through the first two games has been wide receiver Jadon Jackson’s emergence.
Jackson caught the first touchdown in each of the Wildcats’ first two games, but he wasn’t a guy that was talked about much ahead of the season.
Offensive coordinator Collin Klein was honest that Jackson was a “maybe” on the depth chart at the position, but when opportunities raised, Jackson was where he needed to be.
“He’d worked himself into being that third/fourth-ish guy, you know, based on inside/outside, all that type stuff,” Klein said. “[Wide receiver] Keagan [Johnson] gets a little dinged up and your number gets called, and then all of a sudden, it’s the first touchdown of the year and he answered the bell.”
Despite being behind receiver Phillip Brooks and RJ Garcia on the depth chart, Klein says Jackson still holds the makeup of a great pass-catcher.
“He’s got great natural gifts,” Klein said. “He can run really fast and be very relaxed. I mean, he can be at his top speed and it doesn’t look like he’s hardly even laboring, you know, and so he’s got separation speed. Then, he’s attacked the football and that showed up in camp and it showed up even in two games.”
Jackson sat down with 27 Sports anchor Lainey Gerber for an exclusive one-on-one interview to talk about his early-season success. That interview aired on K-Nation, and can be watched here.
K-State gets its first road matchup of the season Saturday at Missouri. That game is scheduled to kickoff at 11 a.m.