Utes' Jackson Ready for a Bigger Role

Last year, the University of Utah’s tight end position seemed primed for a big year, with two talented seniors and a new offensive coordinator who was set on throwing the ball more. Despite that, the tight ends struggled to produce, finishing the year with a combined nine catches for only 129 yards and no touchdowns.

Following the graduation of Siale Fakailoatonga and Harrison Handley, the tight ends have two players vying for the starting role in spring camp, sophomore Bapa Falemaka and junior Jake Jackson. Although Falemaka has had his moments, Jackson has emerged as the more consistent of the two and is seeing the majority of the first team reps. Being asked to step up is never easy, but Jackson is enjoying his increased role with the offense.

“It’s a little different, but it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s time to show up and show them what we’ve got, and I think Bapa and I are doing really well.”

Given the history of the position in recent years at Utah, one would think that there may be some trepidation among the tight ends that they may be underutilized. After all, since joining the Pac-12, there has only been one year when a Utah tight end has exceeded 400 yards receiving, and that was when Jake Murphy did so back in 2013.

Despite the lack of production last season, Jackson isn’t concerned about what the future holds and believes that the tight ends will be given more opportunities to make plays in 2018.

“I think it was just new coach, new strategy,” he said. “If you look at (Troy Taylor’s) film when he was in Washington, he didn’t use them as much. I think he’s learning now, how to use the tight ends. Last year, they got a ton of reps by the end, but it kind of took some time to get there. Now we’re just working our tail off and trying to get on the field.”

Jackson played tight end in high school, but he was originally recruited to Utah as a linebacker. After struggling to see playing time in his first two years—redshirting one of them—tight ends coach Fred Whittingham approached Jackson with the idea of making the switch to tight end. The rest, as they say, is history. Jackson has been putting in plenty of work to improve at his new position, and the progress he is making is turning some heads.

“It’s a process,” Jackson said, with a laugh. “But I feel like it’s coming. Slowly but surely, I think. It’s just hard work over and over again, a lot of practicing. I think live work is the big thing. It’s one thing to run around and catch balls, it’s another thing to catch balls when people are flying at you, or to dodge tackles, or hold on to the ball or whatever it may be. I think that’s the biggest thing for me in spring ball. We do a lot of live work, and I think that’s helped a ton.”

As spring practices wind down, most of the team’s main goals have already been accomplished. Although Jackson is pleased with the progress that he’s made since switching to offense, he is driven to continue to improve. When it comes to his personal goals and what he wants to accomplish before the season begins, his mantra is simple.

“Just get better. You’re out here on the field and you think you’re doing well and then you watch film and you’re like, ‘Holy cow, I’m not doing too hot.”, Jackson said. “It’s every day, working to get my hands inside, or keep my feet moving, or running better routes. There’s new things every single day. Once you learn something else, you forget the old stuff and you’ve got to re-learn it again. It’s just a process, really.”

As for everything else, such as stats, touchdowns, and individual glory, Jackson said nothing of it. His main focus is on becoming a better player so that he can help Utah become a better team. The tight end group as a whole shares the same mentality, and all they want to do is win games.

“We want to do whatever we need to do to win games,” he said. “Ultimately we want to get to the Pac-12 championship game, get to the Rose Bowl. Whether we’re on the field or not, whether we’re making plays, we just want to get there. I think that’s our only focus, I think that’s the team’s only focus right now, just to get better so we can get to that point.”

With some exciting new players arriving in summer to boost the position, things may get a little crowded at the tight end position in the near future, and the competition should be fun to watch. Whether or not Jake Jackson will be the team’s starting tight end when they line up against Weber State remains to be seen, but his attitude of “get better” will be a boon to his teammates, no matter what happens.