Chris Jackson could not have an NFL Draft party if he wanted to.
The senior football kicker and baseball infielder will take on the University of Tennessee Volunteers at Alex Box Stadium while the NFL Draft simultaneously occurs Saturday and Sunday.
Jackson finished his LSU football career as the overall fifth-ranked career punter in school history with a 41-yard average.
Jackson said if he is drafted, he thinks “it will be really late,” maybe in the seventh round.
“Kickers don’t normally go that high,” Jackson said. “Being a free agent is a very viable option. It’s about going to camp and proving what you’ve got.”
Jackson’s agent Brian Parker said the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins all have seen Jackson work out.
Independent draft analyst Mike Detillier predicts Jackson will be drafted in the seventh round or signed as a free agent.
“I’d think he will go in the seventh round in the best case scenario,” Detillier said. “But there is no doubt in my mind he will end up at an NFL camp.”
Detillier said LSU will miss Jackson as a consistent kicking threat.
“He’ll do fine as a pro,” Detillier said. “He’s a good athlete. He’s a good, solid punter with a good hang-time. But what really catches your eye is his directional kicks inside the 20-yard line.
Parker said Jackson’s situation reminds him of former University of Hawaii kicker Mat McBriar, who was picked up as a free agent in 2003. By the end of the 2006 season, McBriar was headed to the Pro Bowl for the Dallas Cowboys.
“Chris is very versatile,” Parker said. “He can be an emergency kick-off guy and a starting punter. I don’t think there is any question he has an opportunity to get in in the sixth and seventh [rounds].”
Jackson said he is inspired by the NFL success of past LSU kickers such as Donnie Jones and Wade Richey. Richey is now retired, but Jones just left the Dolphins and signed a $5.5 million, five-year contract with the St. Louis Rams.
“Donnie called the other day and asked how my workout went,” Jackson said. “He was a great kicker here, and he’s been a great kicker in the NFL.”
Jackson said he knows kicking positions are limited in the NFL but remains hopeful that his childhood dream will come to fruition this weekend.
“I didn’t start kicking until the sixth or seventh grade,” Jackson said. “I played soccer before that, but then I started kicking the football.”
—–Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]