However, the so called "Dream Team" didn't come anywhere near the hype. The Eagles began the season 1-4 and after a week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Birds were sitting at 4-8. Michael Vick was banged up all season long and missed three key games in the middle of the season with a rib injury, while their defense was very susceptible to the run. The Eagles finished the year just 8-8 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and just the 3rd time in the last 12 years since 2000.
Although the Eagles struggles and their major disappointment can not be pegged or blamed on one guy, DeSean Jackson was a major reason for their poor year. He arguably had the worst season of his young career and seemed distracted on and off the field with his contract issues.
In fact, Jackson said referring to his contract situation, "I can admit to certain things affecting me during the season. I just want to apologize. I probably could have handled it a little bit different... I can't really get frustrated over contract situations, or if I'm not paid how I think I should be, whatever the case may be. I can't really allow that to go on as a professional." Jackson seemed to struggle to stay focus throughout the season and was even deactivated for the Eagles week 10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals because he was late for a team meeting that week.
There is no doubt that DeSean Jackson is one of the quickest guys in the entire NFL and he has an incredible ability to make big plays down the field with his speed. He is often able to get behind the secondary and he gives the Eagles a very difficult vertical passing game to defend against. Among receivers with at least 45 catches last seaon, Jackson's average yards per catch of 16.6 ranked 9th in the entire league.
After making just 600,000 dollars last season, Jackson will be receiving a big, one-year payday this offseason. The Eagles placed their franchise tag on their wide receiver and he will receive at least 9.4 million next season, as Jackson will receive the average of the top five salaries of wide receivers. However, DeSean Jackson doesn't deserve to be making top five receiver money and isn't in the same class as receivers like Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith, or Andre Johnson.
Jackson isn't a receiver who is going to catch a lot of balls and he can even disappear a lot of times during the course of a game. He struggles to make an impact in games when opposing defenses are not allowing him to get the ball down the field but only underneath.
Jackson's 58 receptions during the season were the least catches among receivers who had at least 960 receiving yards. Jackson didn't have a game all season where he had more than 6 catches and had four or less receptions in 10 games. In fact, in those 10 games he averaged just 42 receiving yards including 3 games where he didn't eclipse 30 yards. It isn't like Jackson isn't targeted enough as well, as he had 104 targets in 15 games last season. He had more targets than other top receivers like Dez Bryant of the Cowboys and Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson of the Packers, but all three of those receivers had more catches than Jackson.
Jackson has games where he is unstoppable and is constantly causing the defense trouble but he also has games where you forget he is on the field and that is not something that happens to a big time receiver. Jackson had 7 games where he had less than 50 receiving yards. To put that in perspective, Roddy White had just 2 games with less than 50 yards and Calvin Johnson had just 3 games with less than 50 yards.
Jackson even struggled to make big plays this year. He had just 15 plays of 20 plus yards all season, which ranked tied for 21st in the NFL. He also had just 247 yards after catch, which ranked 71st in the NFL.
Since Jackson is only 5'10'', when he is not causing havoc to an opposing team's secondary by making big plays, he is not going to be much of an issue because he is diminutive in size and will not cause too many problems in the red zone. He had just 4 touchdowns this season and just 6 in 2010. His 4 touchdowns were tied for 63rd in the NFL.
Make no mistake about it, Jackson is a quality wide receiver and is an important piece of the Eagles team if they want to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy next season. Jackson has had over 900 yards and led the Birds in receiving in all four of his NFL seasons. However, he has never finished in the top 11 in receiving yards and in the top 9 in touchdowns. Jackson is a valuable component of the Eagles but doesn't deserve to be making top five receiver money.
In fact, Jackson said referring to his contract situation, "I can admit to certain things affecting me during the season. I just want to apologize. I probably could have handled it a little bit different... I can't really get frustrated over contract situations, or if I'm not paid how I think I should be, whatever the case may be. I can't really allow that to go on as a professional." Jackson seemed to struggle to stay focus throughout the season and was even deactivated for the Eagles week 10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals because he was late for a team meeting that week.
There is no doubt that DeSean Jackson is one of the quickest guys in the entire NFL and he has an incredible ability to make big plays down the field with his speed. He is often able to get behind the secondary and he gives the Eagles a very difficult vertical passing game to defend against. Among receivers with at least 45 catches last seaon, Jackson's average yards per catch of 16.6 ranked 9th in the entire league.
After making just 600,000 dollars last season, Jackson will be receiving a big, one-year payday this offseason. The Eagles placed their franchise tag on their wide receiver and he will receive at least 9.4 million next season, as Jackson will receive the average of the top five salaries of wide receivers. However, DeSean Jackson doesn't deserve to be making top five receiver money and isn't in the same class as receivers like Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith, or Andre Johnson.
Jackson isn't a receiver who is going to catch a lot of balls and he can even disappear a lot of times during the course of a game. He struggles to make an impact in games when opposing defenses are not allowing him to get the ball down the field but only underneath.
Jackson's 58 receptions during the season were the least catches among receivers who had at least 960 receiving yards. Jackson didn't have a game all season where he had more than 6 catches and had four or less receptions in 10 games. In fact, in those 10 games he averaged just 42 receiving yards including 3 games where he didn't eclipse 30 yards. It isn't like Jackson isn't targeted enough as well, as he had 104 targets in 15 games last season. He had more targets than other top receivers like Dez Bryant of the Cowboys and Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson of the Packers, but all three of those receivers had more catches than Jackson.
Jackson has games where he is unstoppable and is constantly causing the defense trouble but he also has games where you forget he is on the field and that is not something that happens to a big time receiver. Jackson had 7 games where he had less than 50 receiving yards. To put that in perspective, Roddy White had just 2 games with less than 50 yards and Calvin Johnson had just 3 games with less than 50 yards.
Jackson even struggled to make big plays this year. He had just 15 plays of 20 plus yards all season, which ranked tied for 21st in the NFL. He also had just 247 yards after catch, which ranked 71st in the NFL.
Since Jackson is only 5'10'', when he is not causing havoc to an opposing team's secondary by making big plays, he is not going to be much of an issue because he is diminutive in size and will not cause too many problems in the red zone. He had just 4 touchdowns this season and just 6 in 2010. His 4 touchdowns were tied for 63rd in the NFL.
Make no mistake about it, Jackson is a quality wide receiver and is an important piece of the Eagles team if they want to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy next season. Jackson has had over 900 yards and led the Birds in receiving in all four of his NFL seasons. However, he has never finished in the top 11 in receiving yards and in the top 9 in touchdowns. Jackson is a valuable component of the Eagles but doesn't deserve to be making top five receiver money.
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