Last Sunday against the Washington Redskins, DeSean Jackson hauled in not one, but two long touchdown receptions from Carson Wentz. His 51-yard and 53-yard scores now give him an incredible 31 regular season scores of 50+ yards, more than even the great Randy Moss and trailing just Jerry Rice for first place in NFL history.
If opening week was any sign to come for Jackson, there’s plenty left in the tank for the 32-year-old. Jackson was officially timed at 4.35 in the 40-yard dash coming out of the University of California over 10 years ago, but if anything, Jackson’s game speed is even faster. It’s fair to say he hasn’t lost a step, and he legitimately has a case as the greatest deep threat to ever play the game. Is it enough to put Jackson in the Hall of Fame? And if not yet, what does he need to go to eventually make it to Canton, Ohio?
The Case for Jackson
Let’s look at Jackson’s numbers. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler and was the first player ever to make the Pro Bowl at two different positions (making it at wide receiver and punt returner back in 2010). He’s led the NFL in yards per catch on four different occasions and with five 1,000-yard seasons, he cleared the 10,000-yard mark last year. Perhaps most remarkably, his 1,000-yard seasons have come from five different quarterbacks: Donovan McNabb in 2009, Michael Vick in 2010, Nick Foles in 2013, a combination of Kirk Cousins/RGIII/Colt McCoy in 2014, and then Cousins in 2016. If he does it for Wentz in 2019, he will have six 1,000-yard seasons from essentially six different quarterbacks.
Jackson has gotten to his 10,415 receiving yards on 597 receptions thus far, giving him an insanely good 17.4 career yards-per-catch average. Jackson’s 22.5 yards-per-catch average in 2008 makes him the last player to date to top the 22.0 mark, and he’s the only player in the last 30 years to post a 22.0 average while also topping 1,000 yards. The fact that he led the league in yards per catch as recently as last year – and with Jameis Winston/Ryan Fitzpatrick as his quarterbacks – tells you that he still has it.
At 17.4 yards per catch, Jackson’s career mark to date is higher than that of Calvin Johnson (15.9), Randy Moss (15.6), Rice (14.8), and Terrell Owens (14.8). It’s actually higher than all but six receivers in the Hall of Fame, and five of those played before the NFL-AFL era when downfield passing was much more prominent. Jackson is the only player ever to lead the league in yards per catch four times. I noted above that Jackson still trails Rice in career 50-yard touchdown catches, but it’s certainly worth mentioning that he’s ahead of Rice in touchdown grabs of 60-plus yards (24-23).
He’s also been a dangerous punt returner, a skill his coaches don’t usually let him do anymore at his fairly advanced age. Returning punts isn’t usually enough to get a player into the Hall, but scoring four career punt return touchdowns and leading the league in yards per return once does showcase Jackson’s skills as a legitimate threat to score every time he touches the ball.
There are also no shortages of memorable plays on Jackson’s highlight reel. His 65-yard game-winning punt return against the New York Giants in 2010, a play famously known as Miracle at the Meadowlands II, was voted the greatest touchdown in football history via NFL.com. He scored an 88-yarder on the first play of the game in the Monday Night Massacre of the Washington Redskins in 2010. And who can forget his 91-yarder against Dallas in 2010 (his longest-ever receiving touchdown), in which he fell backwards into the end zone?
And Jackson is at his best when playing his former teams. In classic ‘revenge games’, Jackson has posted lines of 5/117/1, 4/126/0, 4/40/0, 4/55/0, 3/102/1, 4/129/1, 5/67/0, and 8/154/2. Prorate those numbers to a full 16-game season and Jackson has posted a 74/1,580/10 receiving line in games against his former teams and that includes touchdowns of 81, 80, 75, 53, and 51 yards. Defenses know he’s going over the top against them, especially the teams for which he already played for, and they still can’t stop him.
The Case Against Jackson
When you compare Jackson to his contemporaries, he’s going to fall short in most categories. At three career Pro Bowls, he pales in comparison to his Hall of Fame contemporaries. There have been 19 Hall of Fame wide receivers whose careers started after 1960. Jackson’s three Pro Bowls would be tied for fewest, alongside Bob Hayes, Charlie Joiner, Art Monk, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth. Each of those four was at least a First-Team AP All-Pro on one occasion, of which Jackson has never been. And four of those five receivers have played on a Super Bowl championship team (Joiner is the lone exception), with Monk being a three-time champion and Swann/Stallworth at four each.
Right now, Jackson is at 10,415 yards, putting him 42nd all-time. Simply gaining yards isn’t the end-all, be-all, but still, Henry Ellard is at 13,777 yards and hasn’t yet made the Hall. Irving Fryar isn’t in at 12,785. I’m not sure that Anquan Boldin will make it, even with his 13,779 yards. And even Isaac Bruce and his 15,208 yards is still waiting, although Bruce will likely make it eventually. Receiving yards aren’t what they used to be, but right now Jackson trails really good players yet definite non-Hall of Famers in Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Keenan McCardell, and Joey Galloway.
Jackson’s speed is a unique and powerful weapon, but he’s somewhat limited in his role in the offense, particularly in the red zone – meaning his touchdowns usually come from long gains where he can use his breakaway speed rather than making contested catches in traffic in the end zone.
When comparing Jackson to other receivers in the league, it’s easy to note that he was never a top-five wide receiver. It’s fair to wonder how many times he was even a top-10 receiver. Jackson has never been a high-volume receiver, totaling 80 catches in a season just one time, the only time he even cleared 60 since his sophomore year. He was famously released while still in the prime of his career, but what was seen as character concerns at the time will have no bearing on his Hall of Fame resume at this point; in fact, for what it’s worth, he’s back in his original city and is an unquestioned fan favorite.
The lack of Super Bowl appearances is glaring for Jackson, especially when compared to other all-time greats at the position. Rice was a three-time champion and Super Bowl MVP. Moss and T.O. both had good performances in the Super Bowl. Marvin Harrison won a ring. So did Torry Holt. Larry Fitzgerald hasn’t, but he also gave the world one of the greatest postseason months of all-time following the 2008 regular season.
Jackson has been to the playoffs in five different seasons, losing the first game four times and going to the NFC Championship in his rookie campaign. That year, he had a go-ahead 62-yard touchdown reception from McNabb in the fourth quarter that would have been an all-time great play in the city if the defense had been able to stop Tim Hightower later in the game. Still, Jackson’s 21/338/2 career postseason line doesn’t help his HOF case, especially given that he hasn’t even played in a Super Bowl. When you average that over a 16-game sample, it’s a pedestrian 48/773/5 line.
What Jackson Still Needs to Do to Make the Hall of Fame
Let’s say Jackson’s Week 1 success carries over through the rest of 2019 and he clears the 1,000-yard barrier, giving him six 1,000-yard seasons (with six different quarterbacks, no less!) and makes his fourth Pro Bowl. That will put him at 11,500 receiving yards and counting.
Jackson’s contract in Philadelphia keeps him in the city through the ’21 season and he will benefit from the best quarterback with which he’s ever played. It’s difficult to project how long his career will go; Pro Football Reference generously lists him at 175 pounds, but he’s probably closer to 165. The NFL record for career receiving yards by a sub-175 pound wide receiver is Gary Clark (173 pounds) at 10,856 yards, so history suggests it’s difficult for such a light player to sustain success for quite an extended period of time. But Jackson’s entire career has been defying the odds over and over again – even when Chip Kelly unceremoniously released him, Jackson was every bit the same receiving threat with a trifecta of middling quarterbacks in Washington in 2014 as he was with record-breaking Foles in Philly in 2013. Pushing past Boldin/Ellard and clearing 14,000 yards would really help Jackson’s chance.
It’s likely that Jackson will one day hold the all-time record for 50-plus yard touchdowns. After all, he’s just five away from tying Rice’s record. Jackson’s most comparable player ever is Bob Hayes, the dangerous downfield threat for Dallas in the 1960s who was quite literally the fastest human being in the world when he played. Hayes ‘only’ caught 371 passes and totaled 7,414 yards in an 11-year career, but solidified his legacy with his long touchdowns and multiple seasons leading the league in yards per catch.
That may be Jackson’s Hall of Fame calling card, especially since he will be competing against a ridiculous number of Canton-caliber receivers in 10 years: Larry Fitzgerald, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, and Antonio Brown, plus possible holdovers like Steve Smith and Brandon Marshall who have strong cases but may not get in on the first or second try. Realistically for Jackson, the three things he can do to best boost his care are to set the career record for 50-plus yard touchdown catches, win a Super Bowl, and clear the 14,000-yard barrier. It’s asking a lot, but then again, this is the Hall of Fame where the best of the best are recognized.
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