Redshirt senior running back Ja’Kobi Jackson is one of Florida’s best evaluations to date under Billy Napier. The Pensacola, Florida native was an unrated recruit in the 2020 high school class, holding less than a handful of offers from lower level D1 programs. Jackson would go to play college football at the JUCO level for Coahoma CC, where the 5’11, 216 pound running back rushed for 1390 yards and 14 touchdowns across three seasons.
Looking to move up a level, Jackson committed to play for Charleston Southern; that is because Florida’s staff came calling. The Gators were able to flip Jackson from CSU, which at the time was a fairly questionable addition given Florida’s already loaded running back room consisting of Trevor Etienne, Montrell Johnson, Treyaun Webb, and Cam Carroll.
Before Jackson’s addition, Gators’ running back coach Jabbar Juluke told the media that Florida would only add a 5th scholarship running back if it was the right fit.
“If it’s the right fit. We’re not going to just take a guy just to say that we’re taking a guy, you know. We want to make sure that it’s a right fit that comes about,” Juluke said back in spring of 2023.
Florida’s staff saw a tremendous amount of upside in Jackson. While that upside didn’t come into fruition until last season, Jackson made his mark in the SEC, rushing for 509 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024. As an underrated prospect out of high school and a JUCO player not many other programs wanted, Jackson has a chip on his shoulder to this day.
“It fueled me more before I got here, but it it’s still fueling me every day when I’m here. I just want to continue to work. I just want everybody to know me as a person; I’m going to come in every day and work. I’m not going to complain, not too much to worry about when it comes to me,” Jackson said on coming from the JUCO level.
In his first year with the Gators in 2023, Jackson didn’t see the field and redshirted. Going from the JUCO level to the SEC is a big change, but Jackson kept working under coach Juluke’s guidance.
“I didn’t really know too much football coming from junior college so I didn’t really know too much defenses and everything and calls and blitzes, so really just teaching me the fundamentals of again but on, like, on a higher level, I would say,” Jackson said.
Even last year, Jackson didn’t get his chance to shine until the second half of the season due to a few injuries in the Gators’ backfield. Jackson had five or less carries through Florida’s first six games before taking on a much larger role.
“Just staying patient,” Jackson said on his opportunity last season. “Listening to my coaches every day knowing that injuries can happen and when it comes, you got to step up and that’s all I wanted to do last year was step up. If the team needed me, that’s all I did, so.”
Jackson had his biggest moments against Florida’s best competition, combining for 227 rushing yards on 6.1 yards per carry vs Georgia, Texas, and LSU. Jackson found the end zone in each of those games.
During Florida’s 2025 spring game, Jackson ran for 198 yards on just 10 carries, scoring three touchdowns in the process. While Jackson’s 5.4 yards per carry in 2024 was highly effective, his season long rush was just 20 yards. The 216 pound back erased any doubt on his ability to hit the home run after recording touchdown runs of 24, 40, and 90 yards in the Orange and Blue game last Saturday.
“Now and then is totally different, I would say tremendously different,” Jackson said on his growth. “I would just say I learned the system. I know the system now, so really just learning the system and just becoming better every day, that’s what I thrive on.”
Jackson is expected to serve as Florida’s lead running back in 2025 alongside sophomore Jadan Baugh, who put together an impressive freshman campaign with 673 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
“Jadan Baugh is great. We compete every day. That’s my guy. We don’t hold nothing against each other,” Jackson said on Baugh. “Whenever we do something wrong or something we don’t think we should do, we’ll be like, hey, man, you could have did this and we take it like that and just go on with it. Every day is a competition and we come in ready to work every day.”
With Jackson and Baugh primed for breakout years in 2025, the Florida Gators could have one of the better running back duos in the country.
“I definitely think we can be one of the best in the SEC if not the best,” Jackson said. “Just power and explosive, explosive plays, that’s what we’re going to bring to the table this year.”