Dane Jackson gets inspiration from former Pitt teammates as he preps for NFL Combine

INDIANAPOLIS — For the second year in a row, the Pitt football program has just one representative at the NFL Combine.

Dane Jackson, however, doesn’t feel like he is alone for the event.

Former teammates Avonte Maddox, Jordan Whitehead and Quadree Henderson were among the players who provided words of encouragement for Jackson as he began this step in the NFL Draft preparation process.

Jackson, a redshirt senior from Coraopolis, is trying to follow Maddox and Whitehead as former Pitt defensive backs recently selected in the draft.

“Jordan and Quadree were my roommates for three years,” Jackson said Friday. “Avonte, when I got (to Pitt), he treated me like a little brother. He taught me everything on and off the field. I respect him for that. Those are my forever guys.”

Whitehead, who is entering his third year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, sent Jackson a message Thursday.

“It was motivational,” Jackson said. “Telling me about the small steps for how to get to the NFL.”

The thought of getting a chance to play in the NFL was something Jackson couldn’t fathom when he was in high school. He attended tiny Cornell, which scrapped the football program after Jackson’s freshman year. This forced Jackson and others at Cornell to join the Quaker Valley football team.

Then, despite developing into a dual-threat quarterback at Quaker Valley, Jackson sifted through a few offers from FCS and Mid-American Conference schools before Pitt offered a scholarship. He jumped at the chance to play cornerback, his alternate position in high school, in the ACC.

At Pitt, Jackson developed into a three-year starter, finishing his career with 39 pass breakups. Named a captain for his final season, Jackson punctuated his college career with 12 pass breakups, leading the Panthers for the second year in a row in that category.

“He had some impressive games,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “He was a little inconsistent, but I did like him through the course of the year. He was in my top 10 cornerbacks at one point.”

Along the way, Jackson watched Maddox get taken in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018 and Whitehead go to the Buccaneers in the same round that year.

“Just seeing guys I played with and against make it to the next level,” Jackson said, “that gave me motivation that I could be there, too.”

Like Maddox and Whitehead, Jackson is viewed as a mid-round prospect, although he might have increased his draft stock while attending the Senior Bowl. Jackson broke up several passes in practice that week while covering some of the draft’s top wide receivers.

“I did what I did all year long and put it all on the line,” Jackson said. “I wanted to help myself, and I think I did.”

Jackson resumed training and preparing for the combine at EXOS in Pensacola, Fla., one of the most popular facilities on the draft-prep circuit.

Now that his moment on the national stage has arrived, Jackson is confident he will show scouts that he is an NFL-caliber cornerback. Jackson measured 6-feet, 187 pounds at the combine, and he will do every event here except for the bench press.

“I would like to go out and show the fluid smoothness of the drills, run a good 40,” Jackson said.

If Jackson has a goal for a 40-yard dash time, which he will run Sunday on national television, he is keeping it to himself.

“I’m just going to run like the wind,” he said.