After starting three seasons for Syracuse, cornerback Tanard Jackson is preparing for the NFL. The adjustment will include a new team, a paycheck and possibly a new position.

Jackson is practicing at free safety this week for the prestigious Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The Senior Bowl (Saturday, 3 p.m., NFL Network) features 100 of the top senior prospects and is considered the best of the postseason college football All-Star games. Jackson was the only Syracuse player invited, and when he arrived, the depth chart had him listed at free safety and not cornerback.

‘I knew coming in teams are looking at me there because of my support on the run, but I had no idea I was going to be playing there this week,’ Jackson said over the phone on Wednesday.

Jackson is playing for the North team, which features the top cornerback prospect in the draft – Michigan’s Leon Hall – along with other highly touted cornerbacks like Fresno State’s Marcus McCauley and California’s Daymeion Hughes. The safeties on the team are also solid prospects – including Virginia Tech’s Aaron Rouse and Utah’s Eric Weddle – but neither is considered to be a top player at the position at this point in the draft process.

That opens up an opportunity for Jackson, who measured at 6 feet and 190 pounds, runs well and is a proven tackler. He finished with 57 total tackles (45 solo) and 2.5 sacks last season. During the last three seasons, Jackson has averaged 51.6 total tackles.

It helps the North team is coached by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaching staff. The Bucs’ defensive coordinator is Monte Kiffin, who was the New York Jets’ linebackers coach in 1990 when Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson was the defensive line coach. They also coached together at North Carolina State from 1980-81.

Robinson’s defense is very similar to Kiffin’s. Among the similarities is replacing linebackers with safeties on passing downs. Coincidentally, Jackson played some linebacker in those situations last season, which seemed abnormal for a cornerback but made sense considering Jackson’s safety-like tackling skills and Robinson’s defense.

‘Playing under Coach Robinson has helped me this week,’ Jackson said. ‘Playing for the Buccaneers staff, you can see it’s an energetic staff.’

Published reports have lauded Jackson during the practice sessions. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., who is in Mobile, wrote Jackson has ‘good body control and hands,’ and a ‘good burst.’ However, Kiper did note Jackson was burnt by Fresno State receiver Paul Williams. It was in front of hoards of NFL scouts, considering most of the scouting for the Senior Bowl is actually done during the practices.’Practices are more important,’ Jackson said. ‘Everybody’s there for practice, After Thursday’s practice, I heard it’s a ghost town. Scouts go home to watch the game.’

There’s no clear projection on where Jackson will get drafted, but different draft services have him as a first-day selection, which would place him in the top three rounds of the seven-round draft. Jackson will have more opportunities between the Senior Bowl and the draft on April 28-29, to raise his value. The ever-important NFL Scouting Combine is from Feb. 21-27, in Indianapolis.

At the combine, prospects participate in a slew of drills and measurements, including the coveted 40-yard dash time. All the official numbers are settled at the combine, like the 40 time, the bench press and the actual height and weight. In order to prepare for the combine, Jackson has enrolled in the Athletes’ Performance training center in Carson, Calif., a popular draft preparation for many of the top prospects.

Jackson will also interview with NFL teams at the combine, a unique experience he’s already started at the Senior Bowl.’They’re all looking for character guys,’ Jackson said. ‘They want to know the type of guy you are, what you’ve been through, if you’re ready.

‘One of the guys asked me, ‘Why do you play football?,’ I said, ‘I love to play for the competitive nature of the game.”Sometimes, character can mean the difference between the first round and the second round, or the first day and the second day. There’s no science to the draft process, and Jackson is learning it quickly. For the time being, he’s focused on Saturday’s Senior Bowl and a possible position switch, not any projections that are three months premature.

‘I just need to control what I can control, on and off the field,’ Jackson said. ‘As far as where I’m being projected, I can’t really worry about that.’

Published on January 24, 2007 at 12:00 pm