DeSean Jackson: Risky
July 10th, 2017
A little risk.
Whenever a team drops a check with a bunch of zeros into the lap of a player, risk comes with it.
And to read Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report, signing Jackson, despite his potential significant upside, is the most treacherous offseason move made by Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
Keep in mind that every team had a “riskiest move” this offseason, even if none were particularly risky. There is a lowest-ranked student at Harvard.
So while I love the Jackson signing, the reality is there’s always some risk associated with giving a three-year, $33.5 million deal with $20 million guaranteed to a burner on the wrong side of 30. The three-time Pro Bowler led the league with 17.9 yards per reception last season in Washington, but speed-reliant receivers have been known to fall off cliffs.
Jackson will likely help the Buccaneers offense improve in 2017, but there is a small chance the 30-year-old starts to decline in the near future.
Well, Joe liked what Licht told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network last month about Jackson and his skillset. Licht told Jackson he could see how opposing cornerbacks were giving Jackson so much cushion in their coverage, that it was clear defenders still feared Jackson’s wheels.
If Jackson had already slowed down, Licht hinted, defenders would be giving him tighter coverage.
Joe doesn’t think, after hearing from Bucs players and watching Jackson whiz by defenders in underwear football, that Bucs fans should worry about Jackson in the near future.
July 10th, 2017 at 11:05 am
Jackson slowing down from a 4.3 to a 4.4 won’t matter in this offense. Who’s gonna cover him and all these other weapons?
July 10th, 2017 at 11:12 am
We paid for a guy with 4.3 speed. It changes everything.
July 10th, 2017 at 11:31 am
As an Angels fan also, I am more concerned about the albatross Puljos is over the next 4 years than 3 years for Jackson in Tampa. Just making a comparison
July 10th, 2017 at 11:36 am
It is hot as all hell here in Tampa, and Humid too.
Once you have got 20 million guaranteed, you are basically set for life.
It takes a very special kind of drive to keep playing.
Remember Carl Nicks ?
The only good Tampa got out of that signing was, I got to clean his roof so he could sell his house.
Lets all hope this free agent signing works out for us.
The upside is huge, no more stacking the box on us, etc, etc, etc.
July 10th, 2017 at 11:50 am
@ chris
I dont think you remember carl nicks. He hurt his toe which led to mrsa etc. His not playing had nothing to do with not having the drive, it was about injury.
July 10th, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Webster
Exactly, bad comparison. Ive had mrsa twice. Nasty stuff. Ruined his career. Go bucs
July 10th, 2017 at 12:16 pm
Not too risky…..even if Djax runs routes at 4.5…..it will free up the running game and Evans….
I happen to think that Djax will be really excited about the Buc offense with him in it and an opportunity to play with Winston.
The Carl Nicks comparison isn’t appropriate…..but the Ghost Johnson one is.
July 10th, 2017 at 1:10 pm
Signing DJax was a no-brainer. DJax has 9 seasons of experience under his belt with almost 9,000 yds receiving. You don’t average 1,000 yds per season for 9 yrs based on pure speed alone (as in ‘He has other ‘skills’ besides top-end speed’ … maybe he even has pretty good hands to haul in 498 receptions in that time). Sometimes I think that some media & fans would bad-mouth Secretariat because he ONLY won the Derby by 31 lengths.
July 10th, 2017 at 1:20 pm
Stay healthy DJax. Accomplish that and great things will happen for this player on this team.
BTW – I keep seeing various articles about how few balls there are to distribute with so many good receiving options at Winston’s disposal and the implication is that it might cause problems with 2 high level and productive receivers on the roster. Its like many are expecting Evans and DJax to turn into MeShawns if either thinks they think aren’t getting “fed” enough…
Coach K had the perfect response to that silly idea by saying – Yea – that can be a problem – IF a team is losing. We will be mostly winning so it won’t be a problem…
DJax is obviously the primary target of this line of thinking – because everyone knows Mike Evans is going to get tons of balls thrown at him – and also because DJax had or was perceived to have had a bit of an “attitude” (or perhaps the word is “maturity”) problem early in his career.
Even though Jackson should have long ago put any negative perceptions of him to rest by displaying a consistent professional attitude and actions over a now long NFL career of 9 years – its hard to shake “negative” labels once they get attached to a player. (Ask Jameis in 10 years)
I think its all just talk and misguided assumption though. Last year in 15 games DJax had 100 balls thrown at him (6.6 per game) and caught 56 of them (3.7 per game) for 1005 yards with 17.9 yards average per catch.
Point being DJax is used to having only a few attempts a game come his way and usually finds a way to turn those completions into big plays.
July 10th, 2017 at 1:24 pm
Hey Joe, Where’s all the jiggily girls ??
July 10th, 2017 at 1:26 pm
And the misguided talk in comments above about Jackson losing a step do not mesh with what Bucs players and coaches are saying nor what tape from last year shows. Jackson at age 30 is still one of the fastest players in the league and could likely pull a sub 4.3 40 on any given (good) day right now.
How fast was Joey Galloway at 35 and 36 years old? Jackson at 30 could easily have 3 or 4 good years left in him.
July 10th, 2017 at 1:36 pm
darin- MRSA twice?
Damn. How’d that happen?
July 10th, 2017 at 3:26 pm
Probably overpaid for DJax, a risk the team was willing to take. That and satisfying a potential diva attitude going forward. Just a question mark for me. VJax was overpaid too but cool and collected and never was a complainer.
July 10th, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Seeing Joey Galloway with speed at an older age than Jackson gives me hope DJAX hasn’t lost a step. I just hope he doesn’t miss any games or long a long stretch of games as these fast tiny players seems to always have hamstring issues and VJAX hasn’t played a full season in a few seasons.
July 10th, 2017 at 3:50 pm
He had a big contract before and played well. Why should anyone expect differently?
A couple of monster seasons and folks may start HoF chat about the guy…
July 10th, 2017 at 4:29 pm
I really hope Chris Godwin works out. The key is good drafting. Find these guys when they are young coming out of college. I won’t say I don’t like ajax because I do, but I still think Kenny Stills would have been a better option better value younger, cheaper. Plays with grit and is pretty quick. As long as Djax doesn’t slow down or get to comfortable it will be ok though
July 10th, 2017 at 5:01 pm
Djax absolutely loves to rub it in defenders faces when he makes a TD or a big play. He kind of has the Brent Grimes feeling on offense to where he could good/great ball till his mid thirties. And I highly doubt he’s gonna just stop working after getting the big bucks now the he is on a team that has multiple weapons and getting mad props this offseason. Baring injury I think he’ll be putting up his usual numbers this year. Maybe even better.
July 10th, 2017 at 5:38 pm
Risky is getting DeSean and then adding no one else to the O.
They did that. They will be fine.
July 10th, 2017 at 8:38 pm
This may be wishful thinking, but something about his speed reminds me of Darrell Green. I just don’t see him slowing down until after 35, barring injury
July 10th, 2017 at 10:41 pm
If we drafted Jarvis laundry instead of asj….
Wouldn’t need him
July 10th, 2017 at 11:40 pm
The man has pride and doesn’t have a ring. I’m gonna believe in him. He already made his money anyway.
July 11th, 2017 at 4:24 am
Has DJax shown he lost a step somewhere? I dont remember reading about that. Even if he did lose a step, he is not washed up. Opposing Def will still need to respect his speed (or lack thereof as some think) until he proves otherwise.
July 11th, 2017 at 6:26 am
Hey Defense Rules, just for your own info, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths. Not dogging ya, just letting ya know. That was a special season. With so few media choices, the news regarding Big Red was always exciting. Any way, I got nothing to say about the article. Djax will be a great help. I’m glad we got him.
July 11th, 2017 at 12:01 pm
Where’s the Jiggily girls ??