Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- One of the early surprises of Missouri's fall training camp has been freshman wide receiver Jerrell Jackson, a lightly-regarded recruit from Houston.

Jackson had another strong practice on Thursday, making several big catches utilizing his long arms, a long stride and deceptive speed to streak past receivers.

Amazingly, Jackson wasn't listed in the database of one of the nation's biggest recruiting Web sites. But it didn't temper Missouri's interest in him.

"We don't ever look at how many stars somebody has by their name," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "And we also recruit a lot on athleticism. We feel we can teach him how to be a good football player."

As Pinkel watched more film, he said he became more and more surprised that other programs weren't tracking Jackson, who produced 18 touchdown grabs among his 42 catches last season at Jefferson Davis High School. The Tigers beat out TCU in the recruiting battle.

With Danario Alexander nursing a knee injury until October, some observers are thinking that Jackson could crack Missouri's receiving rotation this season. Not too bad for a player who was thought of as a potential defensive player before arriving at college.

"We checked him out and I didn't care if anybody else was recruiting him," Pinkel said. "There's a lot of players out there, if you look close enough. We thought he might be one of them."