DeSean Jackson is a hit-or-miss player. That’s always the risk with starting him. But the odds of getting a hit seem a little bigger this week.
Jackson is back with the Eagles for the first time since 2013, which could give him some juice. He’s also facing one of his other former teams.
Jackson has played against former teams before, and he historically has tended to come up a little bigger in those games.
Since leaving the Eagles after the 2013 season, Jackson has played seven games against former teams (six against Philadelphia, and one against Washington last year). He’s either scored or gone over 100 yards in four of those games.
In seven payback games, Jackson has averaged 4.1 catches for 91 yards, with 3 TDs.
In his 59 other games since 2014, Jackson has averaged 3.5 catches for 59 yards, with 18 TDs (about a touchdown every 3 weeks).
I can’t guarantee Jackson will go off this weekend. He’ll be playing with a broken finger. Philadelphia has plenty of other pass catchers who’ll contribute. But if you don’t have a pretty solid option, I wouldn’t be opposed to rolling him out for a big roll of the dice.
| DESEAN JACKSON IN PAYBACK GAMES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Opp. | Score | Tgt | No | Yards | TD |
| 2014 | Wash. | at Phil. | L 34-37 | 11 | 5 | 117 | 1 |
| 2014 | Wash. | Phil. | W 27-24 | 6 | 4 | 126 | 0 |
| 2015 | Wash. | at Phil. | W 38-24 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 0 |
| 2016 | Wash. | Phil. | W 27-20 | 9 | 4 | 55 | 0 |
| 2016 | Wash. | at Phil. | W 27-22 | 4 | 3 | 102 | 1 |
| 2018 | T.B. | Phil. | W 27-21 | 4 | 4 | 129 | 1 |
| 2018 | T.B. | Wash. | L 3-16 | 8 | 5 | 67 | 0 |
—Ian Allan