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Around SBN: Cal RB Jahvid Best Seriously Injured, Carted Off Field

DeSean Jackson Profile from Cal Fans

Wrote up this miniprofile for Eagles fans to dissect, this is from someone who's watched him for two years so I hope it's helpful.

Upside

He's a big game receiver. It was amusing to see how much DeSean's stats would increase for a nationally televised game; he usually saved his best stuff for those games (including 3 primetime punt returns for TDs). I'm very interested to see how he'll perform on a Sunday Night tilt.

No one's going to deny his overall talent either. He has so much body control that you're always left guessing as to what he'll do next. He's capable of bringing his body to a complete stop and then turning on the accelerator, like he did in the big Oregon game (most impressive play's at around :37)

It's worth noting that some of his biggest receiving performances came against pretty good secondaries like UCLA and Arizon

Despite our struggles with Longshore as a QB, Jackson managed to perform very strongly in a three-pronged corps featuring Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Jordan, combining for 335 catches and 33 TDs.

He runs pretty good routes for a college receiver, certainly his biggest skill over Hawkins and Jordan. Especially against great secondaries, he was capable of burning the deep cover packages by his fake out abilities or his cutting skills to get wide open gaps.

He likes running reverses too, a natural extension of his punt returning skills and his natural ability to get to the edge.

Jerry Rice likes him. Usually a good sign.

Downside

He's small. Enough's been said about that. Jerry Rice was small too.

He gets hurt...or at the very least, ACTS like he's hurt. Whether he's being dramatic or not, like clockwork, you could predict Jackson falling to the ground at least once and taking himself out of every game for a few sequences. It's hard to say how difficult the contact was or how much pain he was in, but I can count the number of times that happened the past two years (taking himself out of the Washington game after a 'tweak' and sitting out the final two games, heading toward the sideline after a PI call in the faithful Oregon State game, or getting beheaded by Keith Ellison (okay, that one was legit). Cal fans are pretty forgiving in that regard, but I don't expect much of those shenanigans in Philly.

His blocking skills need plenty of work. I mean, he'll do the prefunctory arm block and lock the corner up, but only for a few seconds. In the NFL he'll certainly need to work on that.

There were reports of locker room problems in Cal, and many of them centered around a star wide receiver causing friction inside the team. No one has ever specifically said who it was, but mainstream authorities have already assumed it was him and thought the worst about him. I'm not going to defend Jackson's supposed behavior, but I do think last year's collapse was one of the worst possible things that you can ever experience as a player, and it brought out the worst in the fans, the players and the coaches. It's just a miserable experience to go from #1 for two hours to 6-6.

Anyway, this is about as much as I've learned about DeSean from the tape; if I see anything else I'll let you know.

Hope this helped!
BearsNecessity

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Thanks!

Great read. It’s really interesting to hear a Cal fan’s take on him. The part about him “faking out” injury is a bit disturbing. He certainly won’t be able to do that in the NFL, nevermind Philly. I think we can all safely accept the fact that this kid is greatly talented. I also don’t think that size is that big of a drawback. However, my biggest concern (granted, it’s not really a huge concern, but still) is his attitude. Obviously, that’s something that goes with a lot of big-name recievers. But Jackson isn’t a bog-name reciever quite yet. I just hope he doesn’t allow his ego to take over. Other than that, I’m excited about him.

The NFC East goes through Philly.

by LeonSA on Jul 16, 2008 7:06 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Wow. That was a nice mini scouting report for us to look at. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. I agree with Leon that our biggest concern with this kid will be his attitude, given the reports that have surfaced about him. Although, I will say that thusfar he has said and done all of the right things. It seems like he wants to work and thinks that he needs to prove exactly how talented he is.

by foos05 on Jul 16, 2008 9:36 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

yea man thanks a lot for that, i think desean jackson was the best kind of gamble we could have taken, either he shines in green or his face turns green in green…(hope that made somewhat made sense) Luckily for Jackson we have a good amount of primetime games compared to other nfl teams so maybe he shows up then but i really hope hes smart enough not the fake injuries especially in home games…also, we haven’t had an incredibly cocky guy on offense in a while – excluding TO – so i hopefully, maybe will rub off on the right kind of players on our team and maybe boost our confidence somehow….idk i’m just trying to make the best of what i just read lol

by Remis on Jul 16, 2008 9:44 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

soo many typo’s

by Remis on Jul 16, 2008 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

What is that guy talking about?

I don’t understand how the Cal fan posts those 2 videos for DeShawn “faking like hes hurt”. In one video the quarterback made a terrible decision and Deshawn got clobbered, in the other video a defender nailed him before he even caught the ball on a punt return(and probably should have been thrown out of the game for a helmet to helmet hit on a defenseless player). If the guy has attitude issues thats one thing, but don’t knock him for taking huge, unavoidable hits and needing some time on the sideline. I don’t know about you, but I have taken hits like that where you can’t breathe afterwords and you whole body hurts for a few minutes….you just need some time to “walk it off”.

by Clyde Simmons on Jul 16, 2008 10:50 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

No, his mixtapes won’t reveal the times he gets hurt. Those are legit hits, but there are times when he experiences tweaks that take him out of the game for several sequences. I hope it’s just a misjudgment on my part, but I’ve seen him do it watching from the Student Section.

by BearsNecessity on Jul 16, 2008 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

jerry rice

i think the jerry rice endorsement was a marketing ploy by eddie debartlo group who has had a long relationship with jerry rice to boost his draft stock (which didn’t work all that well btw). i wouldn’t too much weight on that part, but then again it doesn’t hurt either.

we can speculate all we want. the bottom line is if he performs he’ll be loved; if he doesn’t then he’ll get run outta here…

by ringordietryin on Jul 16, 2008 3:36 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

awesome thanks for subscribing

thanks for coming over and writing up a profile on him man … youve shown some good sportsmanship :) in the blogging sense :P

If football had a church, Brian Dawkins would be my preacher !

by NorthPhillyKid on Jul 16, 2008 4:18 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

No prob. Always fun to inform fellow fans of what they’re getting.

by BearsNecessity on Jul 16, 2008 8:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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