Sam Jackson’s NFL Dreams Clash with OSU’s Needs, but the WR Is Ready to Step Up

STILLWATER — On Saturday, there’s a good chance receiver Sam Jackson steps up in place of an injured quarterback in a game where the opponent is heavily favored to win.

In other words, it should be pretty familiar territory.

“The senior ended up getting hurt, and so he came in against the number one team in the state,” Ryan Clifford, who coached Jackson in high school, said. “He stands up in the pocket and just steps up, and just delivers a 65-yard dime down the field, hit the receiver in stride for a big touchdown, took the lead. Just the guts, the fearless mentality, for a young freshman, it was an unbelievable moment.”

If there’s a fan club for Jackson’s abilities as a quarterback, Cowboys interim Doug Meacham is the man who printed the shirts. After all, he successfully recruited him as a quarterback to TCU as a freshman, then turned pieces of the offense over to Jackson as more of a wildcat quarterback against Baylor (sixish snaps), then more of a traditional role (14 snaps) at Arizona.

“He’s been through a lot, you know, and I don’t think he really flinches at any of this kind of stuff because he is an older guy and he has been through a lot,” Meacham said. “He has been to several different schools, and I think he appreciates the opportunity to help the football team and go out there and play a position that he loves and probably liked more than playing a receiver. It’ll be interesting to see what he does with the full thing on him.”

Following the Baylor game, Jackson couldn’t keep the smile off his face when asked about his passing touchdown, one of two the Cowboys have thrown this year. So yeah, it seems like a no-brainer that he’s having a lot of fun in his ever-expanding role at quarterback.

“Yeah, for sure, definitely excited, excited to be back where I was,” Jackson said this week when asked about the chance to step up at quarterback. “I wasn’t expecting it though. We’ve had some unfortunate injuries in the quarterback room. We just need a spark on offense now, and that is what we are trying to do and figure things out as we go. As far as excitement, I’m pretty excited about this, for sure.”

When Jackson joined Meacham at TCU, he still dreamed of slinging the football around professionally. He started three games at Cal, all wins, before getting sidelined with an injury. At that point, he had to confront reality.

“The timing of when to make that decision that was the hardest part,” Clifford said. “Because you (Jackson) had opportunities still to play quarterback.”

Ultimately, Jackson felt moving to receiver gave him the best chance of extending his career past the collegiate game.

Barring some sort of program-altering production this season, receiver likely remains Jackson’s best path forward in football, yet no one around him, including Meacham, was surprised that he’s willing to step up for the Cowboys.

If Jackson does get the start this week, it will come with a heavy helping of irony.

In an effort to chase his dreams at quarterback, he chose to transfer following his freshman season of high school so he could sit and learn behind Payton Thorne, who would go on to play at Michigan State and Auburn, as a sophomore. Of course, he also wanted to bring value to his new team, so for that year only, he lined up out wide as a receiver. Now he’s going back the other way to help his college team.

He caught 50 passes for 847 yards and 14 touchdowns before finally getting the chance to start as QB1 during his junior season. He finished that season with 1,727 passing yards and 16 touchdowns.

Then the pandemic robbed him of a critical senior season.

“Missing out on his senior year as a quarterback that kind of put him behind the eight ball,” Clifford said. “But I mean, that kid can, I mean, he’s got a great ball he throws. He’s just so dynamic, you know, and so, yeah, unfortunately, there were some injuries that happened throughout his college career that kind of put him, put him behind a little bit as well.”

Now that he has finally found some level of success, not to mention playing time, as a receiver, Oklahoma State asked Jackson to once again sacrifice those valuable reps at his true position for one that can best help the team.

“He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever coached,” Clifford said. “He’s very selfless, like he’s always thought about, okay, how can I help the team win? How can I not be a distraction if things aren’t going my way?”

Meacham made it clear this week that he views Jackson as a full-blown quarterback now. In the last two weeks, the coach met with the multi-positional player for 20-30 minutes per week to discuss the offense, but now Jackson is a full-fledged member of the quarterback room, attending all meetings and study sessions with quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns.

“There is definitely some pressure on me, but I handle pressure fairly well,” Jackson said this week. “I think the guys will go out there and play pretty good for me. I will go out there and play good for them. We’ve been fighting this whole year since January. … I know Meach is excited. I’m excited.”