On the same day his brother, Trayce Jackson-Davis, announced he wouldn't enter the NBA Draft process and would play a second year at Indiana, Center Grove 2022 quarterback Tayven Jackson received a football offer from Indiana on Sunday.
Indiana has been recruiting Jackson and his Center Grove teammates for months, so it seemed the only way Jackson wouldn't earn an Indiana offer was if the Hoosier staff deemed him unlikely to be a Power Five quarterback. That clearly isn't the case, as Tom Allen extended Jackson his first Power Five offer.
RELATED: 2022 QB Tayven Jackson reacts to Indiana offer
But what can distort the expectations surrounding a still-young quarterback who has led a very good Class 6A Center Grove team to a state championship appearance is the performance of his brother, who was the best player on Indiana's basketball team during the 2019-20 season and is destined for a career in the NBA.
His tape, which flashes potential at the position, and his stats – 92-of-175 for 1,215 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions – can further distort those expectations if not viewed through the lens of anticipation of maturation and further development.
To get an accurate reading of what kind of prospect Jackson is, TheHoosier.com spoke with Jackson's quarterback trainer, Anthony Morelli, who played at Penn State and spent a few years in pro football before opening X-Factor Performance & QB Academy in Westfield.
I just wanted to get your honest assessment of what Tayven is like as a quarterback.
“He’s a spectacular athlete. Anybody can tell that just by watching him move around. He has all the measurables. I think he’s 6-4. He’s as tall as me. He has the arm talent, for sure. He can make all the throws. Very live arm, and accurate as well. In my opinion, he’s very underrated. I think he’s probably one of the better quarterbacks in the state of Indiana.”
Underrated?
“The reason why I think he’s underrated is, you hear a lot about certain guys in the area or in the state of Indiana. I don’t think he’s getting the publicity that he deserves. Based off of his skill level, his talent, his size, his arm strength, his ceiling is very high. I think that he’s definitely a Power Five quarterback, for sure.”
I was going to ask you if you thought he is a Power Five quarterback. Obviously, you’ve talked about his arm, talked about his athleticism, but I know there are a lot of aspects that go into being a Power Five quarterback, mentality, attitude, etc. Do all of those things line up for him too?
“He has a great work ethic. He’s been working with me now for a while. He really puts in the time. Not only with me, but when he’s not with me. I’m sure you’ve seen some videos on Twitter. Whenever he’s with me, he works really hard. And I think one of the key factors of being great is what you do when nobody’s looking. I think he does a great job of putting in some extra work when he’s not with me. I think he understands what it takes to play at that level – the dedication, the commitment, the sacrifice. That’s what sets him apart. On top of that, obviously, he has a brother who is doing this, in another sport, but there’s still a lot of commitment, dedication, sacrifice. Not only does he understand it, but he’s seen it firsthand with his brother.”
How did you get in contact with him? How did he start working with you? How often do you work with him?
“My facility is in Grand Park. His dad (Ray Jackson) told me, the information I received when I first met him, he sent me an email, set up an evaluation, came to the facility. I was told (Ray) was friends with (former USC quarterback) Matt Leinhart, a guy I played with in Arizona. Matt Leinhart told him to come check me out because I’m in the Indiana area. That’s kind of how we got linked together.”
You say he has the skill set to be a Power Five quarterback, but where do you think he needs to improve the most – obviously with him being really young?
“He’s still extremely young. No one’s ever really taught him the mental side of the game. He’s extremely physically talented, but no one has ever sat him down and taught him the protections, the coverages, all that kind of stuff, so we’ve started working on all of that and getting him caught up to speed. Now that he knows all of that stuff, with his athletic ability, when he gets on the field, that should be a game-changer for him, to slow the game down and get him to understand more what he’s looking at when he gets out there on the field next year.”
Have you seen some growth from him in that capacity? Obviously, we haven’t had a lot of football recently, but have you seen that mental growth from him?
“Absolutely. We do Zoom calls, now that we’re in these quarantine times. We talk about coverages, fronts, blitz pick-ups, all the things that are important aspects of the game at the quarterback position. Before all this stuff happened, we were meeting at my facility, not only working on the physical game, but on the mental side too.”
Who are some other quarterbacks you’re currently working with or have worked with?
“I’ve had so many from the past. Elliot Charlebois from Ball State (Carmel HS Class of 2017), Andrew Hobson (Hamilton Southeastern Class of 2020 walk-on) who is going to Purdue, Cam Simons (Westfield HS Class of 2020) who is on his way to Samford. I have a guy in Pennsylvania, who is on his way to Western Michigan – Jack Salopek (Class of 2020). They come from all over the place. The list is pretty long, but that’s just off the top of my head.”
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