2025 NFL Draft interview: Sacramento State OG Jackson Slater

WCG’s lead draft analyst speaks with one of the top small-school prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft.

A two-time All-American and a three-time All-Big Sky offensive lineman, Sacramento State guard Jackson Slater is one of the top small-school prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Having proven himself as one of the best offensive linemen in the FCS, Slater is looking to carry on his level of success onto the NFL level. After Senior Bowl and Combine invitations, it’s clear he’s firmly on teams’ radar.

Windy City Gridiron had the chance to speak with Slater about his collegiate experience, maintaining his athleticism along the interior, his Star Wars Lego collection, and more.

JI: You got the chance to go down to the Senior Bowl. What was that experience like for you?

JS: It was a super cool experience. I’m super thankful for [Senior Bowl executive director] Jim Nagy for giving me that opportunity. Being a small-school guy, the all-star game circuit was going to be huge for me for this process. It was a super fun week just getting to know the guys, doing the media stuff. I thought the practices and the game went well for me. I think I helped myself out a ton that week. I was really happy to be able to do that.

JI: A lot of guys like Cole Strange, Cody Mauch and Quinn Meinerz — small-school linemen — have come in and performed well, and they boost their stock out of that. Does seeing guys like them perform as well as they have, not just in the Senior Bowl, but in the pros, give you that added confidence?

JS: Yeah, I mean, a ton. All those are names that I’ve looked up to throughout my college career. Knowing I’m in pretty good company there with small-school guys that have done well in an all-star game and moved on to have success in the NFL, I think helps my confidence a ton. I think how I’ve personally felt about my performance, for me, is what’s helped my confidence the most.

As a player, going into that week, [I didn’t know] what I was about to see out there, to be honest. [I was] playing Big Sky football my whole career, being able to go out there and do well and compete with a lot of these best college football players in the nation, by the end of it, really feeling I belong with that group. I think gives me a ton of confidence going through the rest of this process. Hopefully, once I get in the NFL, that confidence continues.

JI: You’re not the only Sacramento State player to make the Senior Bowl. Your old teammate, Marte Mapu, got invited and ended up drafted by the Patriots. What was that like, being able to see someone that you played with, getting to see him make it to the NFL, make it to the Senior Bowl, and see the success he has?

JS: It’s super cool. It definitely made me feel more hopeful about my outlook on the rest of my college career and moving on into this process. We’re, I’d say, different players. He was a safety for us, and I was offensive lineman, so we weren’t best buddies by any means, but he’s definitely a guy who I respected. [He was] one of the teammates I respected the most, just based on how he went about his business, how he led us, how he interacted with the guys. I think he has a lot of traits that I see in myself, as well. Being able to see him have success while I was still a college player was really cool to see. It gave me more confidence in how I handled my business. I try to emulate how he took care of business, as well.

JI: You got the NFL Combine coming up, which is cool opportunity. What are you looking forward to the most about being down in Indy?

JS: The biggest thing for me is being able to show off my athletic ability. Another thing I’m looking forward to is having more in-depth meetings with teams, hopefully drawing stuff on the board, maybe talking about their offense, how I’d fit in, what position they see me, get some more clarity on that stuff. I think it’s going to be super helpful for me personally for the rest of the process. The Combine’s all about the on-field stuff, and I’m super excited to go out there and show what I can do.

JI: One thing that stands out to me on tape is your mobility for an offensive lineman. How do you maintain that high level of athleticism while maintaining the strength and the power that you need to be able to thrive in the trenches?

JS: Throughout college, I’d say the main thing is definitely staying consistent with our school’s workout regimen. That’s kind of a given when you’re playing college football. For me, it was keeping the “offensive line play year-round” thing. It’s not just something I do, in spring ball and fall camp and in the season.

I think something that helped me throughout my career was doing as much position work as I could throughout the offseason and giving myself as realistic of looks as I could give myself while not, obviously, actually practicing. [I’m] doing a ton of outside zone footwork, inside zone, pass sets, pulling. I was always out there, usually with a couple of my guys, doing all the footwork and athletic stuff that would come up in the Sac State offense. I think it helped me stay consistent as a player and helped me improve when practices actually started.

JI: You were a four-sport athlete in high school, right? Baseball, basketball, football, track and field? I can imagine having that background has got to be pretty helpful with footwork, too.

JS: I think a lot of my athletic ability, I can give credit to how versatile I was in the sporting world, in general. I played baseball and basketball until I was a sophomore, then I did track and field as a senior. I played baseball, basketball and football from fifth grade until 10th grade, doing all three of those sports. I think it’s been huge for me developing as a football player, dipping my toe in different athletic feats, I guess you might say, because I think there’s a lot of stuff in each sport that’s different, but it all kind of relates to each other in some respect.

I’ve always been a guy that’s thought it’s really beneficial to do as much as you can, do as much different stuff as you can athletically. Once you figure out what sport you want to put it into — and by my sophomore year, I felt like football was the right choice — I think playing all those sports in a pretty competitive setting, I would say helped me on my way.

JI: How do you like to spend your free time outside of football?

JS: Yeah, so I’m kind of a nerdy guy. I would say [that’s] how I classify myself off the field. I collect sports cards. I build Star Wars Legos. I’m a big Marvel, DC, Star Wars guy, all that kind of media that comes out, I’m just a nerdy guy; it’s how I get away from football, pretty lowkey hobbies, I’d say. It maybe gets a little expensive here and there, but it’s fun. I share a lot of that stuff with my fellow offensive lineman at Sac State. We got a pretty core group of guys that’ll go and watch the new Marvel movie, or DC, or whatever is coming out. It was fun throughout college, and I enjoy doing that stuff now.

JI: What’s the biggest Lego Star Wars set that you’ve finished so far?

JS: So far was, I think it was my senior year of high school, for Christmas, I got the UCS Republic Gunship. That’s the adult set, just a big version of the gunship, which was my favorite Star Wars vehicle, I’d say, watching the prequel movies and the Clone Wars animated series. I always thought that one was really cool. Whatever my first contract is, I told myself, I’m gonna buy the big Millennium Falcon set. That’s my reward, maybe, if you want to call it, but, yeah, that’s kind of my plan. That’ll be the biggest one, whenever that comes.

JI: I’ve heard the Millennium Falcon is a doozy to put together.

JS: I don’t know if I’m gonna put it together right when I buy it, but I think just having it in my possession will be a gift in itself. Whenever I have, like, two weeks to put it together, it’s gonna be sick.

JI: Let’s say you can build an offensive line of Marvel or DC superheroes. Who are you putting at those spots?

JS: Okay, so I’ve gotten this question recently…

JI: I thought I was cooking with that! I thought that was original…

JS: It’s a good question! I got it the other day when I gave the same answer. I thought that going with The Hulk is kind of a cheat code, yeah? [He’s] just big, strong, athletic. I think no matter who you choose, it’s pretty interchangeable across the line. So I’d probably go Hulk at left tackle, Red Hulk at left guard, and then I went Abomination at right tackle. Then, if we’re doing any superhero, I put Thanos at right guard, and let’s throw Darkseid at center. I think that’s a pretty mean offensive line.

JI: Let’s say I’m an NFL general manager. What would I be getting if I draft you to my team?

JS: The guy that gets the job done. That’s how I’ve classified myself as a player throughout high school, throughout college: just a consistent person and player, I think, in all phases. I show up to stuff on time, I was never late in college. [I] was a guy that did well in school, a low-drama type of guy. Wherever I go, I usually exceed expectations, is the trend I’ve seen throughout my life. I’m excited to do it at the next level. I think I’m a better player than a lot a lot of people give me credit for. [I’m] a versatile guy that understands all positions on the offensive line, as well as entire offenses, which I think is super helpful, especially at the center position or any interior spot. I think the more that you can understand, the better you’re going to be. The consistency piece that I bring, doing my job, knowing where the combo’s going, know who we need to account for in protection, I think stuff like that is what leads to successful offensive lines. That’s my goal in the NFL, is to be a part of some great ones.