Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson earns Perfect Game College Baseball Player of the Year honor

Perfect Game has named Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson College Baseball Player of the Year, an award that matches what his season has looked like from start to finish: elite production, uncommon versatility, and a direct impact on the Bulldogs’ postseason climb. The decision, announced Tuesday, places another national spotlight on a player who has become difficult to plan for because he produces both with the bat and with his legs, while also anchoring the middle of the defense behind the plate.

Jackson’s offensive output has been built on a rare blend of power and baserunning. According to the report, he is averaging.396 with 31 home runs, 86 RBIs, and 86 runs scored across 63 appearances. He has also stolen 26 bases, along with 13 doubles, numbers that underline how often Georgia can turn a productive at-bat into immediate scoring pressure. The same report points to his overall slash line of.396/.837/.492, a profile that combines high contact and on-base skills with deep extra-base reach.

One of the most striking markers is that Jackson has joined the “25-25 club” for the same season, recorded as 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases. The report says he is one of only six Division I players in the history of college baseball to reach that threshold, placing him among a small group of seasons where teams effectively got two offensive threats at once. It also frames his season in historical terms as a follow-on possibility to a very small list of players, noting a chance to join J.D. Drew as the only college player to hit 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a single year.

The timing of the award matters because Georgia’s title picture is built around the postseason, not the regular season alone. The report indicates the Bulldogs are the top seed remaining in the NCAA Baseball Tournament field heading into Omaha, with UCLA and Georgia Tech eliminated before the Super Regionals. A Player of the Year selection does not guarantee a championship, but it does add clarity to the matchup planning Georgia will generate. In Omaha, every game tightens the margin, and Jackson’s two-way run creation gives Georgia extra leverage in close, late-inning scenarios.

Jackson’s catching role also adds another layer to why the award resonates. Power-speed catchers are inherently difficult to find, and playing the position means the workload is sustained across the full nine-inning demand of catching, throwing, and managing pitchers while still producing at a high level. Georgia had already recognized his national profile earlier in the season, when the school listed him among the 2026 Golden Spikes Award midseason watch group, an honor that typically tracks the best two-way value players across the sport, not only hitters.

For context on how Jackson got here, reporting from The Athletic has described his path from recruiting afterthought to one of the country’s most complete catchers, including a comparison with Georgia Tech’s Vahn Lackey. That broader narrative reinforces that the development arc has been part of what made his season feel inevitable in retrospect, even if it arrived through years of adjustment rather than instant projection.

What to watch next is how Jackson’s production translates to the most pressure-packed stage. With the Bulldogs seeded for Omaha, the national attention around him will intensify, and opponents will look for specific ways to reduce his damage, such as limiting pitches in his preferred zones or managing his baserunning aggression. Georgia’s ability to keep him on the same bat-to-bat workload, while sustaining the rest of the lineup around his power, is likely to determine how far this season can go.

keyFacts