Westbrook Christian & Jax State DL Jackson Luttrell updates shoulder injury, NFL Draft process

BIRMINGHAM − Former Westbrook Christian and Jacksonville State football defensive lineman Jackson Luttrell is taking full advantage of the opportunities he has to make a name for himself during the 2024 NFL Draft process.

Luttrell took a trip down to UAB to compete in Jax State's combined pro-day with the Blazers and other small schools in the state. Luttrell was a multiyear starter for the Gamecocks and was a major reason that the team was led by its defense in 2024 but was battling a nagging shoulder injury for most of the year. After having surgery a week after the bowl game, Luttrell was mostly back to full strength for the pro-day.

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Luttrell participated in every drill but the bench press and one individual drill due to the shoulder surgery. It was still enough to impress scouts that he was one of two defensive lineman to participate in the position drills by the 20-plus scouts in attendance. Luttrell told the Gadsden Time the that recovery from surgery has been pretty smooth and it showed on Thursday as he was one of only a few players, that included former Gamecocks Quae Drake, Kolbi Fugua and Perry Carter to stay after and do more drills.

"It was pretty uplifting," Luttrell said. "...It was really good for my confidence and hopefully I made an impact on some scouts today."

Luttrell's journey has kept him locally either in Rainbow City at Westbrook Christian or at Jacksonville State, where he continued to train in lead up to the Pro Day. He has gone from earning All-state honors for the Warriors to competing for a chance to see his NFL dreams come true, all in about an hour circle from each other.

"Man its been a lot of ups and downs, just thank God for being faithful. At times I didn't even know if I was going to keep playing, just from struggles and doubts. Just to be able to push through and preserve, coaching changes and being able to progress with this team and the success we were able to have our senior year and come out here and train after should surgery and hopefully make an impact on some scouts and have a chance," Luttrell said.

Luttrell heard some interest from scouts about his performance on Thursday but hasn't had any real long discussions with teams yet. He told the Gadsden Times that he would be open to either the CFL or the new UFL spring league, if it meant he could continue playing football.

"If I continue playing football, I will. If I'm not, I'm not, just know that God is in control and his plan will happen," Luttrell said. "...CFL, I'd have to convince my wife on that one, but I'd be down for sure. The UFL would be pretty solid too, if that was my only option, between that or CFL it would be hard to choose...I would be fortunate, thankful to have those opportunities."

Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Westbrook Christian & Jax State DL Jackson Luttrell updates NFL Draft process