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At the NFL Combine on Monday, former Texas Longhorns defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat turned in a 4.63 40-yard dash in an effort that will surely help his draft stock.
And though Jeffcoat didn't draw too much attention away from the insane 4.48 40 that the freakish Jadaveon Clowney turned in, the 4.63 time was the fourth-highest among the defensive linemen in attendance, demonstrating that Jeffcoat has the pure speed to transition to a 3-4 outside linebacker position.
Jeffcoat also did a nice job in the three-cone drill:
Jackson Jeffcoat (DL - @TexasSports) runs through on-field drills. WATCH: http://t.co/YbtaYCYnUR #NFLCombine
— NFL (@nfl) February 24, 2014
A 36-inch vertical and a 10'3 broad jump (only an inch shorter than Clowney) will also benefit Jeffcoat. The vertical ranked No. 6 among defensive linemen, while the broad was tied for fourth. The above three-cone drill ranked second.
The efforts in the tests of athleticism were needed for Jeffcoat after he performed poorly in the weight-lifting portion of the Combine, posting only 18 reps of 225 pounds, tied for fifth-lowest among all the defensive linemen at the event. The likely culprit? The two off seasons that Jeffcoat missed due to the pectoral tears that he suffered during his sophomore and junior seasons.
As a result, Jeffcoat is well behind his peers in terms of time in the weight room -- the greatest task for the former five-star prospect may be to add the functional strength to hold up agains the run game, a major reason why he is viewed as a bit of a tweener.
Jeffcoat also shared some thoughts on how he can beat opponents during his interview session:
"I can give you speed and I can surprise guys with some power. I have strength in my lower body and arms. I can get underneath a guy and use my leverage. I feel like I'm a guy that would be a positive influence in the locker room because I get along with guys well. So there won't be any problems with that or off-the-field problems."
And, of course, Jeffcoat received plenty of high-level instruction from his father, former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Jim Jeffcoat:
"He started teaching me a little stuff in high school. I started playing in sixth grade. I had to beg him to let me play because he didn't want me to play until high school. I really had to come to him to ask him. He didn't want all that banging and pounding on my body, that football was something I could pick up later. He wanted me to pick up my movement from basketball, soccer and baseball at a young age."
With the technical ability that Jeffcoat developed through his work with his father in high school and former defensive ends coach Oscar Giles at Texas and the strong speed and agility testing, Jeffcoat should come off the board in the second round, as projected by CBS. He's ranked as the No. 6 defensive end.