Where now, DeSean Jackson? He’s an older receiver with a lengthy history of injuries, but with his big-place ability, I would think some team will sign him with the idea of mixing him in as a reserve receiver. He says he wants to keep playing.
The Eagles released him on Friday, and he was a flop for them, with just three games in 2019 and only five games in 2020. Jackson is 34, and he’s played a full 16 games only once in the last 12 years.
But teams love speed, and while Jackson isn’t quite as explosive as he was early in his career, he’s still got some of that. While hardly playing the last two years, he’s at least been somewhat productive when in uniform. He caught an 81-yard touchdown late last year against Dallas. The previous season, Jackson helped rally the Eagles past Washington with a pair of long touchdowns, catching 8 passes for 154 yards.
Jackson in his career has scored 37 touchdowns from 40-plus yards. That’s more than Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and everyone else who’s ever played. Jackson in his career has returned 4 punts for touchdowns (most famously, his walk-off game-winner against the Giants), run 67 yards for a score and caught 32 touchdowns from at least 40 yards.
Since the Eagles selected Jackson in the second round in 2008, he’s scored 11 more of those long touchdowns than anyone else. Only three players in the same time period have scored even half as many of those long touchdowns (Tyreek Hill, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace).
I don’t expect we’ll get to the point where I will even be considering drafting Jackson this summer. Not at his age, and not with the injuries. Maybe he hits on a long touchdown or two, but there will be a lot more games where he doesn’t make much of an impact at all. But I think Jackson will land somewhere, operating as a team’s third or fourth wide receiver.
| TOUCHDOWNS FROM 40-PLUS (since 2008) | |
|---|---|
| Player | No |
| DeSean Jackson | 37 |
| Tyreek Hill | 26 |
| Antonio Brown | 21 |
| Mike Wallace | 19 |
| Jordy Nelson | 18 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 18 |
| Ted Ginn | 18 |
| A.J. Green | 17 |
| Calvin Johnson | 17 |
| Adrian Peterson | 16 |
| Chris Johnson | 16 |
| Julio Jones | 15 |
| Odell Beckham | 15 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | 14 |
| Travis Benjamin | 14 |
| Tyler Lockett | 14 |
| Darren Sproles | 13 |
| Golden Tate | 13 |
| Kenny Stills | 13 |
| Amari Cooper | 12 |
| Brandin Cooks | 12 |
| Dez Bryant | 12 |
| Greg Jennings | 12 |
| Jacoby Jones | 12 |
| Jamaal Charles | 12 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 12 |
| Steve Smith | 12 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 11 |
| Demaryius Thomas | 11 |
| Derrick Henry | 11 |
| Mike Williams | 11 |
| Nate Washington | 11 |
| Percy Harvin | 11 |
| Pierre Garcon | 11 |
| Tyrell Williams | 11 |
| Devin Hester | 10 |
| LeSean McCoy | 10 |
| Miles Austin | 10 |
| Roddy White | 10 |
| Tavon Austin | 10 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com.
—Ian Allan