Rivals250 WR Drue Jackson gives full breakdown of Top 5

FORT BEND, Tx. -- While he wasn’t playing in the NFA 7v7 regional tournament just outside of Houston on Saturday, Rivals250 wide receiver Drue Jackson [Sachse, Texas] was in attendance with Team Texas Elite, fresh off the release of his Top 5 on May 8.

Houston, Louisville, Texas Tech, Utah and Washington State are the programs in the driver’s seat heading into the summer for him. Jackson said that he’s currently eyeing-up Homecoming this fall as a possible commitment date, so there is still plenty of time for any of the five to make a strong move for him.

On Houston

“Coach (Tom) Herman didn’t offer me – I went up there my freshman or sophomore year and they liked me though,” he said. “Coach (Major) Applewhite wanted to offer me, but all the offers had to go through Coach Herman and he had questions about me from before. When Coach Applewhite got the job, he came up and saw me and they called me out of class and he told me that he’d been waiting for when he could offer me.”

On what he's discussed about Applewhite with his cousin, Marquise Goodwin, who played for him at Texas

“He said that he’s a good coach that always pushed him to do better,” he said. “I want to get to know Coach (Kenny) Guiton, the new receivers coach, because Coach (Darrell) Wyatt was a real good friend to me and I liked him very much, but I want to see what Coach Guiton can do and get to know him better.”

On Louisville

“I enjoyed it out there when I went out to visit,” he said. “I went out there when they played Kentucky. They didn’t win that game, but it’s a great atmosphere. Me and Jalen (Mayden) still want to play together, so that’s why they’re in our top-fives.

“Coach (Nick) Petrino, came down yesterday and we spoke a little bit,” he added. “I feel like they’re still coming up. I think that Lamar (Jackson) is going to have another big year for them – they had a real strong class last year and the class they’re building this year is going to be solid.”

On Texas Tech

“That’s my old hometown and so sometimes I want to go there, but sometimes I don’t,” he said. “I’ve talked to some players on the team and they were just concerned that playing for Tech didn’t help them like they thought with getting into the NFL.

“I want coaches that are going to push me and develop me into a better receiver,” he added. “Coach (Emmett) Jones and Coach (Kliff) Kingsbury are great coaches, but it sounded like Pat (Mahomes) was there, he was the focus and then they had all these receivers that had all these yards, but only a couple of them signed as free agents.”

On what could give Texas Tech the edge in his recruitment

“I could really thrive in that offense,” he said. “I really like Coach Jones, I really like it there, and they’re my first offer so I will always have love for them. Tech is in the mix for sure.”

On Utah, who recently visited Jackson at Sachse

“They’re excited for me, they want me to come visit end of this month, or early next month” he said. “All of the coaches stay in contact with me – every week a new coach texts me from the offense, in the last couple of weeks they had a (graduate assistant) just go to TCU, but we were talking all the time. Me and Coach (Guy) Holliday have good communication, every other day we text.

“I feel like they’re a good place and in a spot the coaches love,” he said. “They’re a team that I could play early with coming in.”

On Washington State

“They are right in there with the rest,” he said. “All of the schools in my Top 5 are all very much in the mix. Those are the schools that have really shown, because I want to play early, that they have a role where I could come in and do that, I just have to go in and work.”

On his relationship with Dave Nichol and the rest of the staff

“You would think a coach like him wouldn’t come down this way because it’s so far, but he came down here twice last season to show his interest and in June when I take most of my visits, I’m going to go up there. My parents don’t want me to go that far, but they want me to thrive wherever I go and so I’m excited to see what they can show me.”

Jackson made a lot of things known about his intentions known when it comes to where he’ll commit. Mayden is set to make his announcement at Sachse’s spring game later this month, but if Louisville were the team that he commits to, the Cardinals only increase their shot at landing Jackson. Tech already has four wide receivers committed in this class, but Jackson would be a good get and a different sort of receiver than the others already in the fold.

If he chooses to make Homecoming 2017 his deadline, he may not be able to make official visits to all of his chosen schools, but perhaps by then he’ll have whittled his list down to a top-three or so. Jackson is a bigger, chain-moving wide receiver that should be able to find his groove in any of the mentioned teams respective offenses, but with the desire to play early, he’ll be taking a close look at where he can make a quick impact.