All D-Jacked Up

So who is Darrell Jackson? Some people thing he is a selfish jerk that only cares about his money and never puts the team first. Others think he is alright, but nothing special on the field. His lingering knee issue is certainly cause for concern, but Jackson only missed three games in his first five seasons before sitting out ten games last year. Everyone is bound to run into an injury once in awhile, but the possible degenerative nature of his injury should have us worried. Then again, Brett Favre was diagnosed with a degenerative hip condition when he was traded to the Green Bay Packers, but he is still working on his streak of 221 consecutive regular season starts.

As far as his performance on the field, D-Jack is one of the best, most consistent receivers in the league. With the exception of a few elite receivers, no one has been better than him since he came into the league. As a rookie in 2001, he played in all 16 games, starting 9 games. He caught 53 balls for 716 yards and led the team with 6 touchdown grabs. Not bad for a rookie on a 6-10 team that had zero pro bowlers.

Over the next four years - his first four full seasons as a starter, Jackson played in 61 of 64 games, missing 3 games in 2002. During those four years, he ranked 8th in the NFL with 28 receiving touchdowns, 11th with 4,032 receiving yards, and 15th with 287 receptions. So, he averaged 72 catches, just over 1,000 yards and exactly 7 touchdowns per year. That might not sound as good as it really is.

Only Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Joe Horn, Torry Holt, Hines Ward, and Derrick Mason had more touchdowns, yards and receptions. Jimmy Smith and Isaac Bruce had more yards and receptions, but fewer touchdowns. That is pretty lofty company. Those other 9 receivers have combined for 40 pro bowl appearances. It is not a stretch to say Darrell Jackson has been a little underrated, especially when you consider his touchdown numbers suffer from the emphasis put on Shaun Alexander and the running game once the team gets close.

It's not like Jackson had a terrible season last year, he just got hurt. He was putting up silly numbers before his injury. He was on pace to finish with 116 receptions and over 1,500 yards through the first four games. He then missed the next 10 weeks (9 games). In his first game back, he had a nice little 7 catch, 72 yard effort and topped it off with a come-from-behind game winning touchdown grab in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks then played a couple of meaningless games against the Colts and Packers with everything locked up. He got limited action in the Colts game and did not play against the Packers.

Darrell Jackson played even better in the postseason. Last year, he had 20 catches for 268 yards with 2 touchdowns in the Seahawks' three playoff games. He should have had another touchdown if not for the controversial pass interference call in the Super Bowl. As it stands, in his 5 career postseason games, he has 37 catches for 454 yards with 3 touchdowns. If he kept up that pace for an entire season he would have 118 catches for 1450 yards and 10 touchdowns (it would have been 13 touchdowns if you factored in the one that was stolen by the zebras in the Super Bowl).

Maybe Darrell Jackson shouldn't be considered a jerk for asking for more money, and more people should start considering him one of the elite receivers in the NFL. The only concern people should have about D-Jack is whether or not he can avoid re-injuring his knee. He played superb last year when he came back after missing 10 weeks of practice, so that is not a concern. If his knee holds up, he should probably be playing in Honolulu in February.