Was former Eagles WR DeSean Jackson’s career underrated?
DeSean Jackson, who played for five NFL teams, with his most notable work coming with the Eagles, enjoyed an exemplary and possibly underrated career. That came to notice after seeing a recent tweet on X/Twitter by the Eagles, saying that Jackson had the most 60-plus yard touchdowns in NFL history with 26. (Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is No. 2 at 23).
That alone shows that Jackson was among the top deep threats in the modern era. He finished his career averaging 17.6 yards per reception, which is 39th all-time according to Pro-Footballreference.com.
Jackson signed a one-day contract in December, officially retiring as an Eagle.
For his career Jackson had 641 receptions for 11,263 yards and 58 touchdowns.
He spent two stints, totaling eight seasons with the Eagles, but the first six were truly impressive. The final two were at the end of his career and he only played in eight total games during his final two Eagles seasons.
A second-round pick from Cal, Jackson had 356 receptions for 6117 yards (17.2 avg.) and 32 touchdowns in his first six seasons with the Eagles. Also in those first six seasons, he returned 131 punts for 1,294 yards (9.9 avg.) and four touchdowns.
He earned three Pro Bowl berths, all with the Eagles, in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Four times he led the NFL in yards per reception – twice with the Eagles and once each with Washington and Tampa Bay.
Jackson also played on teams that qualified for the playoffs six times—four with the Eagles, one with Washington and one with the Las Vegas Raiders.
In eight career playoff games, he had 22 receptions for 364 yards and two touchdowns.
There is usually a warranty that comes up rather quickly for speed burners.
To Jackson’s credit, he was still a deep threat at the age of 32.
During the 2018 season, he caught 41 passes for 774 yards and four touchdowns while playing for Tampa Bay. Jackson also led the NFL in yards per reception (18.9).
While Jackson’s receiving rightly gained most of the attention, as outlined above, he was a quality punt returner. The most famous punt return was his 65-yard touchdown as time expired as the Eagles won at the Meadowlands against the New York Giants, 38-31 on Dec. 19, 2010.
That is one of the most famous plays in Eagles history. With the score tied at 31-31 and 14 seconds remaining, Jackson bobbled the punt, picked it up, reversed fields and darted 65 yards for the walk-off win. (In those days, teams had to kick the extra point even with no time remaining, which made the final score 38-31.
It was among the most remarkable wins in Eagles history. The Eagles trailed 31-10 in the fourth quarter before storming back.
Jackson has stated in interviews that he feels he should earn a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame. While he may have a point, it feels from this vantage point as if he came up short on some of the career statistics.
Either way, he at the least brings an interesting debate about his credentials, highlighted by his outstanding big-play ability.
Photo Courtesy of Eagles X/Twitter
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Author: Marc Narducci
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