The 2016 four-star safety from Elk Grove (Calif.) Franklin, Lamar Jackson, is ready to begin his official visits and he talked about the three he's locked in and who could get the last two...
Elk Grove (Calif.) Franklin athlete Lamar Jackson (6-3, 204) is the West’s No. 1 safety in the 2016 class, a hot commodity both in the West and nationally.
The four-star has three of his official visits locked in, one at the end of September and two more scheduled for October.
Then it will be a matter of timing of who gets the final two officials.
“I’m going to Arizona State on September 26th when they play USC,” said Jackson. “On October 3rd, I go to Oklahoma for the West Virginia game and on October 17th, I go to Michigan for the Michigan State game.”
That leaves the last two visits open.
“It’s kind of out of Washington, Oregon and Notre Dame for the last two visits but then UCLA and USC want me to come down,” said Jackson. “USC wants me to come down for the UCLA game and UCLA wants me to come down for a game too.”
Initially, Jackson said he would likely leave his official visits to schools he hasn’t seen much of, and he’s taken a number of unofficial visits to the two Los Angeles schools.
“That was my initial thought, but Coach (Keith) Heyward wants me to come down to visit USC for their last game because he said there isn’t a game like the UCLA game,” said Jackson. “And Coach Meat (Demetrice Martin), wants me to come down for a game too so I can be in the Rose Bowl."
But Jackson said he still might just visit the two Los Angeles schools unofficially.
“If it comes down to it, some of my other official visits will come after the season, so its just a matter of timing,” said Jackson. “So we’ll see where and when I end up taking the other two visits.”
Jackson will play in the UnderArmour All-American Game and said he still is shooting to announce then.
“As of right now, I’m still set to announce at the UnderArmour Game,” said Jackson.
Jackson said that a trio of teams have been on him more than others of late.
“Arizona State is pushing me hard and Michigan is hard after me too. Coach (Jim) Harbaugh and I have a really good relationship. Oklahoma is on me hard too,” said Jackson.
Jackson said that he’s not narrowed his list at all, with some of the non-Western schools standing out to him.
“I’m pretty wide open right now,” said Jackson. “I like Oklahoma and Michigan a lot. They’ll both be right in there. It just depends on how I feel when I visit. That’s the main reason I want to go out there, to see if I could live out there.”
Florida and Michigan State have reached out to Jackson, along with a few other SEC schools, though they haven’t offered.
“A few schools like Florida have talked to me and Michigan State has talked to me and a couple other ones, but I’m not really worried about them as much and focusing on the schools I’ve been talking with and have offered,” said Jackson.
Jackson said schools are talking exclusively defense, and specifically in the secondary, when he gets to college.
“It depends on the school,” said Jackson. “Michigan wants me to play corner because they like my length and my size. Oklahoma is either safety or corner. Everyone wants me to play DB, but it’s just a matter of corner or safety. UCLA told me they want me to play some packages with me at Wildcat quarterback. A lot of coaches throw out offense, but UCLA specifically said it. But they still want me for defense.”
Franklin is 1-1 on the young season and has a bye this weekend before they open league play against traditional state power Sacramento (Calif.) Grant.
