William Jackson III motivated to bounce back after inconsistent 2021

After a one-year sample size, the Washington Commanders‘ 2021 free agency class is nothing to write home about.

While Charles Leno, Bobby McCain, DeAndre Carter and Ricky Seals-Jones were all quality low-profile moves, the class’ headliners — Ryan Fitzpatrick, Curtis Samuel and William Jackson — didn’t provide an ideal return on investment.

While Fitzpatrick and Samuel’s season were derailed by long-term injuries, the cornerback’s campaign was hampered by inconsistency, a couple small-scale injuries and a one-week stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list late in the year.

One of the many silver linings to take away from the end of last season was Jackson showing signs of life after his first-half struggles. After intercepting Justin Herbert in Week 1, Jackson’s play was troubled by pass interference penalties and sloppiness in coverage you wouldn’t expect from a handsomely-paid DB.

Entering the second-year of a three-year deal that guaranteed him $26 million, Jackson knows his performance has to improve. Based on what he’s told reporters at OTAs, he’s clearly motivated to bounce back in 2022.

Commanders cornerback William Jackson III is ready to rebound after a disappointing 2021 season.

"“I hate watching early on, because I don’t even look like myself out there,” Jackson told the media. “But later on in the season, I started playing better and then started feeling like myself and it started showing on the field.”"

In hindsight, it was probably unfair of Commanders fans to expect Jackson to hit the ground running in an unfamiliar scheme. Not only was he playing with new teammates after four years with the Bengals, which requires its own adjustment period, but Jackson also had to reckon with learning a new style of play.

In Cincinnati, Jackson’s job was simple: locate the best receiver on the opposing team and neutralize him to the best of his ability. In Washington, the former first-round pick had to adapt to playing in a zone and trusting his teammates.

Now, Jackson and the Commanders’ secondary can focus on accentuating each other’s skillsets instead of learning each other’s habits.

"“Obviously, the zone was foreign to me early on. Now I feel comfortable.”“It’s going to help us big time because we’re all familiar with each other. We did a lot of things off the field that we didn’t do previous. We all feel comfortable with each other, we’re out there talking, we’re laughing, we’re having fun. We know where everybody’s going to be and that’s the most important thing when you’re playing defense.”"

Of course, saying and doing something are entirely different, but Jackson’s 2021 struggles are commonplace around the NFL. Whether it be a defensive back, offensive lineman, linebacker or defensive end, very few players around the league make seamless transitions after signing with a new team in free agency.

Entering his second year with the Commanders, Jackson no longer has excuses if he underperforms. Based on his talent and newfound comfort level with Jack Del Rio’s defense, we could see the best version of WJIII in 2022.