Arroyo: V-Jax Getting Better
October 15th, 2014
One of the 13 times Vincent Jackson was targeted Sunday.
Vincent Jackson is a strange mix. He’s a nice guy who does tons of laudable work for veterans and their families away from the football field, but rarely will he talk to reporters. He is sort of the George Hendrick of the Bucs. Good guy; no talk, though.
Few work harder on the field, as well.
Once, Jackson was among the top receivers in the game. You cannot state that any longer.
Jackson is tied for fourth-most drops among wide receivers and his catch-rate (times targeted/receptions) is 55 percent.
Sunday in the seal-clubbing by the Crows, Jackson was targeted 13 times but caught just four passes. There is no way to spin that, it is an awful ratio. But acting offensive coordinator/play-caller Marcus Arroyo tried to sell yesterday the Bucs are improving in their ability to get Jackson the ball.
“[Against New Orleans] we were pretty excited with the way he played, he did a pretty good job last week;we’ve built off the week before,” Arroyo said. “I think whenever you’re targeted and don’t get the catches – we’ve slowly tried to find ways to continue to get him the ball and it’s starting to move forward. ‘
We had a chance to target him a little more, but didn’t get a chance to get him the ball that much, it didn’t get in his hands. It’s not a lack of knowing the ball needs to go to him, it’s either the coverage or a ball needs to be a little better or finding another way to do it, and I think it’s all of that.”
Arroyo seems to be throwing Mike Glennon under the bus on this. But let’s not kid ourselves: Jackson is hardly a reliable receiver any longer.
Jackson is on the wrong side of 30. As Austin Seferian-Jenkins continues to improve; as Mike Evans continues to show he can catch with the best of them, with the Bucs all but admitting their roster needs upgrades, Bucs overlord of football operations Lovie Smith is going to take a long look at Jackson’s $9,777,777 salary for 2015 (per Rotoworld.com), and wonder if he cannot get two or three good players for that price, not unlike his evaluation of Darrelle Revis.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:12 am
Evans is going to be a very good WR…..great hands !
October 15th, 2014 at 8:22 am
Jackson has been playing with a broken hand.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:26 am
There are so many needs on that football club. I love VJax but we can’t afford a complete dunkaneers court if we can’t protect the QB. Plus secondary will need a major overhaul too and we still need a edge rusher and possibly a MLB if we stick to that tampa2 mantra
Myers, Jackson, Goldson, Clayborn,Leonard Johnson and Bowers are gone next year. What’s intriguing is who they’ll replace at OL. They just signed 60% of the OL this year. Guaranteed money next year for eds, collins but not mankins. Can’t convince myself they will drop mankins agter giving a 4th rounder. So it leaves only Omameh which he isn’t that bad compared to the expectation I jad with collins and eds.
Oh well…
October 15th, 2014 at 8:26 am
I think he’s getting better too. IIRC he only had one drop last Sunday. That’s improvement in my book.
I agree about Evans’ hands. He catches it like Dez. Grabbing it at its highest point, over peoples heads and shoulders, and squeezing it like his hands are a vise. Great draft pick!!
October 15th, 2014 at 8:31 am
Only media people think that a player’s not talking to the media is a negative about him.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:39 am
When is Arroyo going to realize that Jackson is not a slot receiver? He is a vertical, jump up and snatch the ball type of receiver. How many drops has he ever had on those routes? I will never understand why the last 3 coaching staffs absolutely refuse to play to the skill sets of our players. I don’t know how many more times it has to be proven that doesn’t work. You line up Jackson in the slot, he’s average at best. You put him on the outside, he’s still a great receiver.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:41 am
Only free agent signing that actually worked out 100% since probably Simeon. I can’t think of anyone else who’s even come close to earning the FA contract they signed here.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:45 am
Time to start throwing more to ASJ and Evans.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:51 am
I think Evans was drafted to replace VJ…..we can spend the $10 mil on a reciever with exceptional speed and can get open.
One of the reasons for the poor catch percentage on VJ is that he is Glennon’s last resort at times and he isn’t open.
October 15th, 2014 at 9:08 am
He is playing with a broken wrist. That has to play a factor.
October 15th, 2014 at 9:14 am
Throughout his career, Jackson has never really been “open”. Living in Hawaii, I had the (mis)fortune of watching San Diego a lot, plus one of my good friends is a huge Charger fan. But when you send him vertical, more often than not he’ll create just enough separation to make the play. Hell, he did it here up until this year, when he is lining up mostly in the slot. He is almost never going vertical, but 90% slants and hooks. That’s not his game. Never has been, never will be. He’s not quick enough or fast enough to create separation on a hook route. Just think about it – his size isn’t going to be able to cut like a real slot WR. The rare times he does go vertical, he doesn’t get a good throw. One of the biggest knocks on Glennon that not even his biggest fan can argue is that he can’t throw a very good deep ball. So I guess if we are going to continue to use him like this, then he’s not worth the money. If you think I’m lying, watch the film. Look where he lines up. Watch the type of routes he runs, and compare them to what he has always run in the past.
October 15th, 2014 at 9:32 am
@ Hawaiian,
I agree with you. On those deep balls Jackson is always a yard ahead of the defender. Unfortunately, the ball is always a yard ahead of Jackson. The deep ball is definitely something Glennon needs to improve on.
October 15th, 2014 at 9:43 am
Yeah, Glennon has a tendency to under throw the deep ball, which is weird because he supposedly has a cannon. He also tends to just throw the ball away, versus giving Jackson a shot at the ball in bounds.
October 15th, 2014 at 9:53 am
Hawaiian- you have stated this take several times and I mostly agree with you. He is better downfield but would be reasonable to expect him to squeeze the ball in the short and intermediate game even if that part of the tree is not the best place to use him. Dropping passes is kind of inexcusable regardless of where it is on the football field.
October 15th, 2014 at 10:04 am
@DallasBuc,
I agree there ultimately is no excuse for dropping balls. However, you are fooling yourself if you think catching a short pass is the same as catching a long pass. First of all, there is much less “adjustment time” to a short pass. If you’ve ever been on the field, you’d see how hard these guys throw. The ball literally whistles through the air. It’s going to be very difficult for a receiver who isn’t use to catching the ball that close to the QB. Not an excuse, just reality. He’s over 30 years old – you can’t make him into something he’s not at this point in his career.
I just cannot and will not understand why we are wasting his talent by running these short routes, and by putting him in the slot. He’s one of the top vertical WR’s in the game today. Not 2 years ago, today. He isn’t slower than what he was last year, he’s just used differently. Watch the film.
October 15th, 2014 at 10:21 am
Hawaiian- I am not arguing with you on this one. He should be thrown at downfield more often and I don’t think Arroyo or Glennon are an aware of this. It isn’t getting done because the play-calling is having to adjust to the fact that this oline cannot get any push up front in the run game and the pass pro has been spotty at best. Play action is not respected so Glennon has no time and receiver routes downfield can’t be called. It all works together but it starts with this grossly untalented and ineffective oline.
October 15th, 2014 at 10:22 am
…unaware, not “an aware”
October 15th, 2014 at 10:31 am
Trade him to New England for a sixth round pick…
October 15th, 2014 at 10:34 am
…unaware, not “an aware”
too bad there is not an edit function….I often post without proof reading and finf mangirled wurds too
October 15th, 2014 at 10:37 am
@DallasBuc,
You are absolutely right!
October 15th, 2014 at 10:55 am
I like Jackson, he’s one of the Bucs best players since he has been here. Take away his contributions to the offense over the years and there is not much offense left on the team.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:00 am
I would agree that we are unable to go deep a lot because of the run game, but we have gone deep a lot of time and Evans has caught the ball. I just think VJax has lost a step and when the ball is thrown to him deep he just doesn’t the speed to catch up to it. So when Glennon tries to take a little off of it he ends up under throwing. It just needs work in practice for them to sync up, but I’m not sure Glennon trust him a lot with the drop passes either.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:14 am
@Skyline Crew,
If by a lot of times you mean like maybe once a game on average, then you are right. And Jackson isn’t the one going on those routes. He’s too busy doing 5 yard hook routes. Again, watch the film.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:20 am
Glennon has completed 15 passes of 20+ yds and 2 of 40+. Now let’s go back to a few games where long passes that were completed were called back due to penalty. Then you can add in all the dropped passes. We go deep, but VJax isn’t catching it.
Oh, if you want to complain about 40+ yd passes only being 2. The most in the NFL right now is only 7 completed at 40+.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:30 am
Yeah, but that stat is a little misleading. First of all, that doesn’t show how far the ball has traveled. I don’t consider throwing the ball 20 yards to be deep. However, it’s irrelevant because Jackson isn’t going on those routes. Those have been reserved for the other guys.
Jackson has not dropped one deep pass this year. That’s a flat out lie on your part. Watch the games and get your head out of the stat sheet.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:38 am
I do watch the games and I do watch VJax drop the ball. So what do you consider a deep ball? does it have to go more than 50 yds for you? I think your in love in VJax and you can’t see the truth. Quit defending him. He is still a good receiver, but the dropped passes are inexcusable.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:56 am
I’d still keep him. Give him a real QB before you decide he stinks.
Granted he’s dropped some easy ones, but some passes are way more catchable than others.
October 15th, 2014 at 12:19 pm
He has a real QB so that statement makes no sense.
October 15th, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Most of you people don’t hold these players accountable at all anymore. It’s always stick up for this guy, he was good in the past, so he must still be good.
WAKE UP CALL
It’s not showing on the field THIS season. I don’t give a crap if he was all world king ding dong last season or the season before that. Same goes for McCoy as well.
Results matter, but to some of you not anymore. Hang on to the past performances from past seasons it’s good enough for you these days.
smh
October 15th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
^^^^agreed
Everyone is being reviewed this season and nobody should be safe.
October 15th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
@1987,
Funny though, you’ve got a hard on for Glennon, and serve up excuses after excuses for him. Why the double standard? He’s completing a shade over 50% of his passes, which is what I like to call “Tebow” numbers. He’s thrown a pick in each game he’s started as well. Yet, you make excuses for him. For the record, I pretty much agree with you. I think Glennon is doing a very good job considering the lack of help from the O-Line and coaches. But you can’t criticize people for making “excuses” when you are the king of excuses for your boy Glennon. Can’t have it both ways.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:15 pm
@Hawaii,
I wouldn’t worry to much about 1 interception a game. Only having 3 interceptions is pretty good compared to a majority of other QBs. He is currently ranked tied for 21 with 3 int. I can handle that. You are correct though he does need criticizing. He throws on his back foot and he needs to fix that. His accuracy is off a little and need fixin. However, if he had a little more time to throw I would be interested if he stopped with the back foot throw or not, which is probably contributing to his accuracy. However, we may not know that and just have to go off what we have seen.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:22 pm
I think Jackson’s drops are easily corrected, he just needs to have a séance with a medium and channel Lester Hayes.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Which has been illegal for years.
October 15th, 2014 at 3:15 pm
I like Jackson, but the one pass he either refuses to catch or has trouble with is the slant over the middle. This is a big drawback when you have blitzing linebackers who are leaving big gaps in the middle of the field.
If you don’t think other coaches don’t notice this, then you are deeply mistaken.