Rion Jackson wasn’t initially planning to go to Annapolis. An eighth grader fielding offers from St. Frances Academy and St. Mary’s for football didn’t need to stick with the public school route.
Three years later, Jackson’s flush with esteemed offers from Division I powers — and glad he stuck with the Panthers.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder with an 82-inch wingspan enters his third high school season with a haul of offers that most other kids could only dream of receiving. Georgia, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Auburn and Penn State headline the lineup, along with Maryland, Duke, Nebraska, Tennessee and others.
ESPN ranks the edge rusher as the No. 196 overall 2027 prospect. 247Sports’ composite rankings already place the rising junior at four stars.
“He’s explosive and very quick. He’s long and putting on more weight. And he’s only 15 years old,” Annapolis coach Dewayne Hunt said. “The upside of his potential is through the roof, and clearly coaches see that.”
Needless to say, Jackson’s disappointed quite a few private schools that’ve reached out this summer, but jumping ship is not in his makeup. He knows a player willing to devote four years to a single program is an endangered species, from college down to youth ball.
During visits to Annapolis, multiple college coaches offered praise for Jackson’s loyalty before anything else, he said.
“People proclaim Annapolis as a ‘bad school.’ There’s nothing bad about it. It’s no different than any other school,” Jackson said. “Coach Hunt stayed down with me since the beginning. So I’m going to stay down with him.”
Hunt always read the potential in Jackson’s long limbs and height while he competed for Cape Youth Football. The coach told the young player that if he worked hard, he could be an All-American. Then, he relegated the freshman to junior varsity to shape his “raw talent.”
Jackson “didn’t have nothing but a smile” on his face, putting in his hours in the JV uniform. When varsity called him up for a 2023 playoff game against Dundalk, Hunt knew Jackson was ready. You could “see it in his eyes.”
“I just knew something was going to happen,” Jackson said.
He made that “something” happen. In his sophomore preseason, Jackson served on the scout team for defense and found his way onto the field however he could: running with the kickoff, playing second-string tight end. He wanted to prove to his team he could be solid anywhere, not just in his natural position backing the defensive line.
The Panthers coaches picked Jackson over a senior for a starting spot by the first regular season game.
“The work ethic he came into the summer with made him better, a student of the game,” Hunt said. “He had talent and athleticism, but now he understands it.”
Jackson recorded four tackles for loss and the game-winning tackle on fourth down to secure Annapolis’ first victory over Old Mill in decades. Then in mid-October, Jackson made history again when he secured his Panthers’ narrow triumph over Class 4A power Broadneck.
Quarterback CJ Watkins had his Bruins on Annapolis’ 30 with less than a minute left. On third down, Jackson sprang off his rush to catch a Broadneck offensive lineman and failed.
“He had me, so I locked him out and jumped up. That’s what I resort to because I do have a lot of bat downs,” Jackson said.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore leapt before Watkins and batted his pass attempt down.
“I was running around, hype, but I looked back to make sure I didn’t get a flag for taunting,” Jackson said with a smile. “I knew, after that game, I’d be getting a call from somebody.”
He finished the fall with 50 total tackles, 16 for loss, as well as nine sacks, nine pass breakups, a forced fumble and 13 deflections.
Morgan State arrived to offer another Panther, or so Jackson thought.
“The work,” Jackson said, “was finally paying off.”
Hunt spread praise of Jackson around the county, but compared against older players, his accomplishments were largely underrated. Anne Arundel public school coaches consigned him to their 2024 Second Team All-County list instead of First Team. He failed to make the Capital Gazette 2024 Football All-County teams, too.
Hunt got the sense people locally didn’t believe in his prospect. But in the spring, sentiments began to shift — because college coaches did.
Annapolis football posted a picture of Jackson on Maryland’s SECU Stadium field, shortly before the Terps offered the sophomore in mid-March. The defensive end took his official visit to College Park later in late April — a pin all over the map he’d spent the late spring and early summer traveling.
“That one got me,” Jackson said of the Terps’ offer. “I just really try to take it all in and be as humble as I can be. I know what I have, there’s a million other kids striving for it. I gotta keep my head down and grind.”
Jackson doesn’t bring up his offers to anyone. If someone asks about one, he’ll confirm and say little else. His Instagram page, previously stuffed with his big-name offers and thousands of positive comments hyping him up, is wiped.
All he’s focused on now is bettering himself for his junior season, sharpening his drop-in and his pass-rush game.
“I’m gonna show the same thing I showed last season but 10 times better. This season’s gonna be a movie,” Jackson said. “I’m ready.”
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