Usage / Role
82%
Major offensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2014-2017Northwestern
Justin Jackson
RB • 5'11" • 200 lbs • Carol Stream, IL, USA
Workhorse runnerSteady chain mover
Justin Jackson leans workhorse runner traits and 47.5 efficiency.
Impact Production
100
Top-tier box-score impact for a back
lowelite
Reliability
86
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
94
Blue-chip, NFL-level ceiling
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2016 Postseason · Northwestern
14151516161717
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Northwestern
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Pittsburgh
Player Story
Justin Jackson built his college career from 2014 through 2017 as a running back from Carol Stream, IL wearing No. 21, spending time with Northwestern. The clearest part of Justin Jackson's career was his backfield...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Northwestern
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2014
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2018
- Selection
- Round 7 · Pick 33
- Overall
- No. 251
- NFL Team
- Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Jackson, RB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2016 Postseason · Northwestern. Justin Jackson leans workhorse runner traits and 47.5 efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Scrimmage yards
- 6,298
- Rushing yards
- 5,440
- Receiving yards
- 858
- Touchdowns
- 43
Featured Highlight
Watch Justin Jackson on film
Justin Jackson Northwestern Highlights
2017 · Northwestern · Player Highlight
Justin Jackson college highlights at Northwestern.
- Season
- 2017
- Type
- Player highlight
Quick Answers
Justin Jackson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Northwestern · RB
- Career Scrimmage Yards
- 6,298
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 51 games
- Best season
- 2016 Postseason · Northwestern
- Top game
- Pittsburgh
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Glenbard North · Northwestern
- High school pipeline
- Glenbard North · 5 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2018 · Round 7 · Pick 33 · Los Angeles Chargers
- Latest roster
- No. 21 · Class 2017
- 2017 Scrimmage yards rank
- 1,587 scrimmage yards · RB 13th (top 3%) · Big Ten 3rd (top 2%) · National 18th (top 1%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Scrimmage | Rush Yds | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Northwestern | 12 | 1,388 | 1,187 | 201 | 11 | 76.7 |
| 2015 Postseason | Northwestern | 13 | 89 | 74 | 15 | 1 | 77.6 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Northwestern | 13 | 1,491 | 1,344 | 147 | 4 | 77.6 |
| 2016 Postseason | Northwestern | 13 | 233 | 224 | 9 | 3 | 81.4 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Northwestern | 13 | 1,510 | 1,300 | 210 | 12 | 81.4 |
| 2017 Postseason | Northwestern | 13 | 167 | 157 | 10 | 2 | 78 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Northwestern | 13 | 1,420 | 1,154 | 266 | 10 | 78 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson played RB for Northwestern. Across 4 tracked seasons, Justin Jackson recorded 12 passing yards, 5,440 rushing yards, and 858 receiving yards. His top tracked season came in 2016 with Northwestern.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2016 Postseason
Northwestern paired 1,743 primary output with 52.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
2014 Regular Season role shape
backfield-heavy usage with 50.9 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2017 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Illinois
Loss driven by a workhorse rushing load. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2014 Regular Season · Northwestern
Games
12
Scrimmage Yards / G
115.7
Efficiency
50.9
Usage
36.8
Consistency
76.1
Best Game by takeover score
Illinois
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. California: 44. Northern Illinois: 71. Western Illinois: 104. Penn State: 67. Wisconsin: 162. Minnesota: 156. Nebraska: 128. Iowa: 106. Michigan: 60. Notre Dame: 158. Purdue: 156. Illinois: 176
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. California: 9 by 51.6. Northern Illinois: 14 by 48.2. Western Illinois: 23 by 46.2. Penn State: 17 by 37.3. Wisconsin: 33 by 51.1. Minnesota: 27 by 52.9. Nebraska: 22 by 60.6. Iowa: 26 by 42. Michigan: 21 by 24.8. Notre Dame: 24 by 67.9. Purdue: 24 by 67. Illinois: 27 by 61
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins129.4 · Games = 5 · +23.5 vs Losses
Losses105.9 · Games = 7 · -23.5 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Scrimmage Yards
Top game by takeover score
Illinois
Best efficiency game
67.9 vs Notre Dame
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 11/29 | vs Illinois100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | L 33-47 | 24 | 130 | 5.40 | 2 | 3 | 46 | 6.5 |
| Sat 11/22 | @ Purdue100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 38-14 | 23 | 147 | 6.40 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6.5 |
| Sat 11/15 | @ Notre Dame100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 43-40 | 23 | 149 | 6.50 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6.6 |
| Sat 11/8 | vs Michigan | L 9-10 | 17 | 35 | 2.10 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 2.9 |
| Sat 11/1 | @ Iowa | L 7-48 | 24 | 96 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4.1 |
| Sat 10/18 | vs Nebraska100 rush yards · 2+ TD | L 17-38 | 22 | 128 | 5.80 | 2 | — | — | 5.8 |
| Sat 10/11 | @ Minnesota100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | L 17-24 | 23 | 106 | 4.60 | 0 | 4 | 50 | 5.8 |
| Sat 10/4 | vs Wisconsin100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 20-14 | 33 | 162 | 4.90 | 0 | — | — | 4.9 |
| Sat 9/27 | @ Penn State | W 29-6 | 15 | 50 | 3.30 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 3.9 |
| Sat 9/20 | vs Western Illinois | W 24-7 | 21 | 92 | 4.40 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4.5 |
| Sat 9/6 | vs Northern Illinois | L 15-23 | 12 | 52 | 4.30 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 5.1 |
| Sat 8/30 | vs California | L 24-31 | 8 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4.9 |
Player Story
Justin Jackson story
Justin Jackson built his college career from 2014 through 2017 as a running back from Carol Stream, IL wearing No. 21, spending time with Northwestern. The clearest part of Justin Jackson's career was his backfield work: 5,440 rushing yards, 1,142 carries, 41 rushing touchdowns, and 858 receiving yards across 51 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with Northwestern. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
The value of the career arc is that it connects production to role, not just a name on a roster. His career also includes 12 passing yards, 858 receiving yards, and 5 tackles, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 51 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Northwestern.
The arc is straightforward: Justin Jackson moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Northwestern
2014-2017
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2014201520152016201620172017
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Northwestern | 1,388 | 50.9 | 36.8 | — |
| 2015 Postseason | Northwestern | 1,580 | 46.7 | 43.6 | 192 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Northwestern | 1,580 | 46.7 | 43.6 | 0 |
| 2016 Postseason | Northwestern | 1,743 | 52.2 | 42 | 163 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Northwestern | 1,743 | 52.2 | 42 | 0 |
| 2017 Postseason | Northwestern | 1,587 | 47.5 | 40 | -156 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Northwestern | 1,587 | 47.5 | 40 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Pittsburgh
Week 1 · W 31-24 · Postseason
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
233
Scrimmage Yards
90.8 takeover
233 scrimmage yards and 46.6 usage.
#2
@ Illinois
Week 13 · W 42-7 · Conference game
157
Scrimmage Yards
90.1 takeover
Win with 157 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.
157 scrimmage yards and 35 usage.
#3
vs Penn State
Week 10 · W 23-21 · Conference game
195
Scrimmage Yards
88.4 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
195 scrimmage yards and 47.5 usage.
#4
@ Maryland
Week 7 · W 37-21 · Conference game
174
Scrimmage Yards
87.1 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
174 scrimmage yards and 42.3 usage.
#5
vs Illinois
Week 14 · L 33-47 · Conference game
176
Scrimmage Yards
87 takeover
Loss driven by a workhorse rushing load.
176 scrimmage yards and 43.5 usage.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2016 Postseason · Northwestern
1,743 primary output · 52.2 efficiency · 42 usage
81.4
#2
2016 Regular Season · Northwestern
81.4
1,743 primary · 52.2 efficiency · 42 usage
#3
2017 Postseason · Northwestern
78
1,587 primary · 47.5 efficiency · 40 usage
Milestones
27
100+ rush yards
19
150+ scrimmage yards
11
2+ TD games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Justin Jackson
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