Experts Clarify NFL Draft Stock for Teslaa, Jackson amid Senior Bowl Struggles, Successes

Isaac TeSlaa, Landon Jackson, Arkansas football, NFL Draft, Senior Bowl
photo credit: Twitter/Scott Fountain / Twitter/Travis May

The last time Arkansas fans saw Isaac TeSlaa on the gridiron, he was catching three passes for 107 yards in the Liberty Bowl a couple days after Christmas.

Whereas with Landon Jackson, it was watching him getting carted off with a scary injury from the Faurot Field turf in Columbia, Mo., in the regular-season finale in November.

Both players participated in the Reese’s Senior Bowl workouts last week and then stood out in the annual game Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala.

The American team defeated the National team 22-19, with TeSlaa hauling in two passes for 35 yards and snaring a pair of two-point conversions to help the winning team’s cause, while Jackson notched 1.5 tackles for loss in a losing effort.

Arkansas Star Eager to Prove NFL Draft Worthiness

After a slow start to the practices, where he struggled to get to the quarterback and actually got manhandled a bit, Landon Jackson persevered and came into his own — eventually capping the week with a strong performance that likely impressed the scouts on hand.

One of those aforementioned tackles for loss by the 6-foot-6 edge rusher was actually a strip sack of former Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Boston.com’s Conor Roche listed Jackson as one of his 10 players who stood out and could be in line for the New England Patriots to draft in the second round at No. 38 overall. If that were to unfold, Jackson would join former Razorback Deatrich Wise Jr. in Foxboro, while another ex-Razorback defensive lineman, Trey Flowers, also had some nice years with the Patriots.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranks him the third-best defensive end in the class, and his performance probably only bolstered his stock with NFL teams, even despite the early adversity in that first day of practice. While Jackson’s lack of elite explosiveness around the edge keep him up the very top draft prospects, his stout run stopping could still help him sneak into the end of the first round. In the USA Today mock draft, he slots in at No. 28 going to the Detroit Lions.

Jackson wasn’t the only defensive lineman with Arkansas ties who showed out in the Senior Bowl. UCA’s David Walker “opened eyes during the week with his short, thick frame, consistently working his way into the backfield,” NFL.com reporter Eric Edholm wrote. ‘That carried over in the game, batting down a Dart pass right before the half and sacking Milroe for a 7-yard loss on third down.”

TeSlaa Needed the Notoriety After Arkansas Career

For players attempting to get noticed by scouts and general managers alike, games like the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Bowl are usually a great opportunity for them to show out and display their skills.

TeSlaa had a solid, albeit unspectacular 2024 season, catching 25 passes for 439 yards and three touchdowns, the highlight undoubtedly the 75-yard score against Texas A&M on the third play of the game in AT&T Stadium in an eventual 21-17 defeat.

A healthy majority of Taylen Green’s passes went to Andrew Armstrong or Luke Hasz or Tyrone Broden or Isaiah Sategna during the season. None of those guys ended up participating in the Liberty Bowl, so it was the first time all year that he was really a featured target in Bobby Petrino’s arsenal. He ended up busting out one of the coolest touchdown celebrations in Razorback history, even if it sadly didn’t count:

The 6-foot-2 wideout blossomed at Hillsdale College, a Division II school in Michigan, where he developed the chip on the shoulder he needed to prove himself at the major college level.

On a recent episode of the ‘Move the Sticks’ podcast hosted by Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks, Rhett Lewis, of NFL Network fame, was a featured guest and mentioned to the co-hosts how he thought TeSlaa stood out in 1-on-1 periods.

“He was a guy who used his big frame and still was able to kind of showcase some quickness getting off the line with his release package,” Smith said. 

TeSlaa also happened to develop a rapport with Dart during the week, which is ironic considering Dart treated the Arkansas secondary like it was an inferior sandlot team back in early November.

Athlon Sports’ Alec Elijah had a nice piece outlining how he thought TeSlaa raised his stock with his performance in Mobile.

“Following the Senior Bowl, TeSlaa’s name began to gain momentum on social media and draft circles, with many analysts praising his performance and predicting an uptick in his draft stock,” Elijah wrote. “What was once considered a late Day 3 selection now appears to be a potential fringe top-10 wide receiver in this class.”

He also caught the attention of Edholm of NFL.com, who wrote that he “had a quietly solid week” with “a few nice moments” in the game itself. The lead NFL Draft writer described TeSlaa as “a smooth mover” at his size (6-2, 217).

TeSlaa and the NFL Draft

If you’ll allow me to put my own scout hat on for a second, in my opinion, TeSlaa may end up being a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick in the NFL Draft this April. He is definitely going to go to a team who is looking for a possession receiver who can get open and make plays in traffic and is a team-first guy.

Think Ladd McConkey, who starred at Georgia and is now one of Jim Harbaugh’s top wideouts with the Los Angeles Chargers. Smith even alluded to McConkey when he was talking about TeSlaa on the podcast mentioned earlier.

Or even Hunter Renfrow at Clemson, who is now one of the top receiver options in Las Vegas, a franchise that recently hired Pete Carroll and is looking to try and get back into contention in the AFC West. They also hired Chip Kelly away from Ohio State in the process.

The difference between McConkey and Renfrow versus TeSlaa is the amount of exposure each of them got as opposed to the former Razorback.

Those guys were playing on top-five teams and national championship contenders while surrounded by a bunch of other top-flight talent. TeSlaa was stuck on an Arkansas team that fired its offensive coordinator eight games into his first year and finished 4-8, then slid into a 6-6 season in 2024 that should’ve been much better in hindsight.

In Renfrow’s case at least, he only had FCS offers out of high school, but took the hard route and walked on at Clemson and worked his way into being the player he ended up being, ultimately culminating in being a fifth-round pick of the Raiders in 2019.

He happened to win the Burlsworth Trophy in 2018 for good measure, as well.

Landon Jackson will undoubtedly hear his name called during the NFL Draft – likely on the second day. Razorback fans and Isaac TeSlaa’s family and friends are hoping to hear his name called, too.

How to Watch 2025 NFL Draft

Dates: Thursday-Saturday, April 24-26, 2025

  • Round 1 – Thursday, April 24
  • Rounds 2-3 – Friday, April 25
  • Rounds 4-7 – Saturday, April 26

TV/Stream: ESPN, ABC and the ESPN app

Location: Green Bay, Wis.

Arkansas football players to watch: DE Landon Jackson, WR Andrew Armstrong, RB Ja’Quinden Jackson, WR Isaac TeSlaa, DL Eric Gregory

***

Read our next piece on Arkansas football:

***

For whoever announces that potential pick and the NFL fans who’ll be cheering him on, here’s a cheat sheet on how to correctly pronounce Isaac TeSlaa’s last name:

YouTube video
YouTube video
YouTube video

***

More coverage of Isaac TeSlaa, Landon Jackson and Arkansas football from BoAS… 

Facebook Comments