I am very impressed with DeSean Jackson. He was ushered out of Philadelphia with the tag of a selfish player more concerned about his own stats than the performance of the team. More trouble than he was worth, it seemed. But man, he’s been remarkably good at getting downfield for big plays.
In my eyes, he’s definitely been the best downfield receiver in the league over the last 10 years, and it’s not even close.
Jackson last year had 13 catches of 40-plus yards, and he did it despite working with a hodge-podge collection of quarterbacks – RG3, Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy. In the last 10 years, no other receiver on any other team has had more than 10 of those catches.
But there’s more.
In the last 10 years, Jackson has had at least 8 catches of 40 yards four times. He did it three times with the Eagles. In the same time frame, only 17 other times has this been achieved by the rest of the league combined. And no other receiver has had two seasons with 8 of those 40-yard catches.
So a tip of the cap to Jackson. He’s truly been something special.
RECEIVERS WITH 8 RECEPTIONS OF 40-PLUS YARDS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Tm | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | 40+ |
2014 | WAS | DeSean Jackson | 56 | 1169 | 20.9 | 13 |
2009 | PHI | DeSean Jackson | 62 | 1156 | 18.6 | 10 |
2011 | DET | Calvin Johnson | 96 | 1681 | 17.5 | 10 |
2010 | PIT | Mike Wallace | 60 | 1257 | 21.0 | 10 |
2005 | WAS | Santana Moss | 84 | 1483 | 17.7 | 10 |
2013 | CIN | A.J. Green | 98 | 1426 | 14.6 | 9 |
2009 | HOU | Andre Johnson | 101 | 1569 | 15.5 | 9 |
2010 | DEN | Brandon Lloyd | 77 | 1448 | 18.8 | 9 |
2013 | CLE | Josh Gordon | 87 | 1646 | 18.9 | 9 |
2007 | NE | Randy Moss | 98 | 1493 | 15.2 | 9 |
2011 | NYG | Victor Cruz | 82 | 1536 | 18.7 | 9 |
2013 | PHI | DeSean Jackson | 82 | 1332 | 16.2 | 8 |
2010 | PHI | DeSean Jackson | 47 | 1056 | 22.5 | 8 |
2006 | CIN | Chad Johnson | 87 | 1369 | 15.7 | 8 |
2006 | NO | Devery Henderson | 32 | 745 | 23.3 | 8 |
2008 | GB | Greg Jennings | 80 | 1292 | 16.2 | 8 |
2007 | TB | Joey Galloway | 57 | 1014 | 17.8 | 8 |
2014 | GB | Jordy Nelson | 98 | 1519 | 15.5 | 8 |
2011 | ARI | Larry Fitzgerald | 80 | 1411 | 17.6 | 8 |
2009 | DAL | Miles Austin | 81 | 1320 | 16.3 | 8 |
2013 | BAL | Torrey Smith | 65 | 1128 | 17.4 | 8 |
—Ian Allan