Sheffield's first Mr. Football winner Radarious Jackson has SEC offers, may commit in spring

NASHVILLE – Radarious Jackson has thought quite a bit about what the next few months will hold.

In addition to making a trip to Knoxville for Tennessee football's Junior Day, the Sheffield High star wide receiver has thought about announcing his football commit sometime in the spring.

"That's the plan," said Jackson, who hasn't yet decided on his top schools. "Other than that, I'm going to keep grinding in the offseason to get ready for my senior year."

Jackson's junior year was one to remember at Sheffield. He guided the Knights to a 8-3 record, a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons and capped his 2023 campaign with the Tennessee Titans Class 3A Mr. Football award Tuesday at Nissan Stadium.

"I'm taking this trophy home to Sheffield High School," Jackson said. "The trophy represents the schools, my teammates, my coaches and everybody in the community that you can come from where I come from and do something big."

The other two finalists for the award were Alcoa wide receiver Brandon Winton Jr., a South Florida commit, and Covington's Skylan Smith.

Jackson is the first Sheffield player to win Mr. Football and is the second straight player to be a finalist. Mark Joseph was a 2022 finalist. Jackson had 30 catches for 676 yards and 13 TDs this season. He ran 50 times for 660 yards and eight touchdowns and had eight interceptions on defense with three of those returned for TDs.

"I tell all my players, whoever is being recruited and whatever schools are recruiting them that they need to go where they are wanted and where the best fit is," Sheffield coach Edward Kuykendoll said. "It's a big decision and they need to be comfortable with the decision they make."

Although he is not rated as a recruit, Jackson picked up offers from Tennessee and Auburn in a two-day span in the middle of October. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior already held offers from Vanderbilt, Colorado, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Oregon.

"He's a special athlete," Kuykendoll said. "He's one of a kind."

Not since his days as a peewee quarterback, playing youth football in Memphis, had Jackson been asked to play quarterback full time. He was thrust into that role in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs over a month ago. Kuykendoll was forced to improvise his offense on the fly when starting quarterback, Davion Sledge went down with a first-half injury.

Ripley stunned the top-seeded Knights, 12-8, as Alcoa eventually captured its ninth straight 3A state championship, but Jackson's ability to step out of his wide receiver position and into the QB role, and his coach's confidence in him was emblematic of the type of season that led to Tuesday's Mr. Football award.

"To have a young man that's tough, physical and smart is a blessing," Kuykendoll said. "We depended on Radarious to continue the offense. Playmakers make plays."

Sheffield captured the Region 8-3A title for the second straight year.

"I had to step up in that moment," Jackson said. "The team was looking for me to make something happen and I didn't want to let them or the coaches down."

Sheffield had used Jackson in a limited capacity at quarterback before using RPOs to utilize his speed. If he had to throw, Jackson targeted one of his closest friends in senior wideout Antonio Bell.

"He had fun in those RPOs where he would fake it and run or throw the ball Antonio. We were lucky to have two dynamic playmakers."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.