Count Theodore head football coach Steve Mask as a fan of Jackson High quarterback Landon Duckworth.
“He has a chance to be a great, great player,” Mask said this week. “Not a good one, but a great one.”
Duckworth and the Aggies played Theodore to a 21-21 draw in a spring game recently. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound rising sophomore already has SEC offers from Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt along with Troy, UCF and TCU.
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“He has great size, great arm strength,” Mask said of Duckworth. “I’m not even sure he can drive to school yet, and he already looks exceptional with a chance to be really, really good.”
Mask is right. Duckworth is just 15 but already has a season as a freshman starter on his resume.
“He played whole season as a 14-year-old and caught a lot of people’s eyes because of his athletic ability,” Jackson coach Cody Flournoy said.
After a 1-2 start in 2022, Duckworth led the Aggies to seven straight wins before they lost to eventual Class 4A state champion Andalusia 25-10 in the first round of the playoffs.
“I thought at times last year he looked like a freshman and at times he looked like the guy we have right now with all the SEC offers,” Flournoy said of his quarterback. “That is why we are so excited about him going into this season.”
Duckworth completed 98-of-182 passes for 1,840 yards and 20 touchdowns a year ago. He was intercepted seven times. He also rushed for 312 yards and six touchdowns. Duckworth already has drawn comparisons to former Jackson quarterback Walter Taylor, who is now at Vanderbilt.
“We thought Walt had a really strong arm and Landon does also,” Flournoy said. “Walt has been home the last few days, and I’ve been watching him throw and, man, that ball jumps out of his hand. Landon is the same way, and he’s only 15. Their personalities are a little bit different, but they are both easy going guys. They both enjoy film study. They are guys you like being around.
“And they both have a lot of confidence.”
Flournoy said one thing that set Duckworth apart as a freshman was his competitive nature.
“It bothered him when he didn’t play well,” Flournoy said. “Some younger players just shake it off and don’t think about it. You could see it bothered Landon. There is something very mature about him even at a young age.”
Flournoy said Auburn and Alabama both have shown interest in Duckworth but haven’t offered yet. He said Auburn coaches came by his school recently for the first time in his five years as head coach of the Aggies.
“I think the word is getting out on Landon,” he said. “Hopefully, he can have another good season and really explode.”
Duckworth also has talented players around him including a pair of 6-foot-3 wide receivers in Keeyun Chapman and Nasir Powell.
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