Did Jeremy Maclin have as good a rookie season as DeSean Jackson?

Maclin had a good rookie season and I expect him to be a great player but Jackson clearly had the better rookie season. He showed glimpses of his game changing abilities, blazing speed, help on S/T, and he did it as the #1 wide out. Maclin was the #2 all season. Either way, you can play with the stats all you want, if you watched the games you saw the specialness in Jackson more so than Maclin in his rookie year. That doesnt mean Maclin can’t be as good or better, but rookie season a lone — Jackson.

In DeSean Jackson’s rookie season, the receiver with the most yards after Jackson was the legendary Hank Baskett (440 yards), so Jackson was getting more attention from opposing defenses.

Main point for me, maclin could get lost in our slew of weapons.

jackson was playing with less around him. that fact alone i would give it to jackson. just the same i think maclin can be a better pure wr then jackson, but jackson is a game changer. they’re a great compliment to each other.

Jackson had that infamous almost theoretical touchdown that he threw away on the 1 yard line as a rookie too.

Maclin is better at slants and curl routes hence his good catch rate per game but Desean has been a “game changer” due to his big play ability since his rookie year. One of my predictions on Joe D’s thread was…

Jeremy Maclin will have more catches than Desean Jackson.

because he was a #1 and without the same amount of weapons around him.

Maclin was fantastic, but he also was single covered by the #2 CB all season where Jackson was getting attention and double coverage after teams realized how effective he was.

Are they the best WR 1/2 combo the Eagles have had since Barnett/Williams back in the late 80s? Eagles have had some strong seasons by WRs since then but it is hard to recall a season where they had 2 legit quality starting WRs.

But in my opinion Jackson’s rookie season was better because of the fact that, like you said, he had a lot less help.

Maclins ability to go up for the catch exceeds past jacksons
Maclin is a more complete WR, from blocking down field to never taking a play off
I have never seen Jackson throw a good block, but I have seen him take plays off.

Its not a tough decision at all.

but I think Maclin might have a higher ceiling. Jackson is no doubt a special player. A very dangerous weapon. But Maclin seems to me to be a better all-around WR. He can do it all…. go deep, work intermediate routes, go up and fight for a jump ball, and take a bubble screen or quick out 75 yards to the house.

Everybody questioned the Maclin selection last April because he was supposedly a “mirror image” of Jackson, but after one season he appears to be a good complement to Jackson.

These two are very exciting players and seeing that picture of both of them above makes me feel like a little gitty school girl (no homo).

Bottom line: both had great rookie seasons and it’s exciting to think about how much better they could potentially be in their 2nd/3rd seasons (typically breakout seasons for WRs).

Desean did what he did without there being another viable threat out there, who did he have opposite of him? Reggie brown, KC, Avant, Baskett? Hardly anyone (except for a healthy KC) who scares anybody.. Point being Djax was the main priority for the D as a reciever.

Maclin however benefitted from a Celek breakout year, Desean Breakout year, and having Avant and to a small extent weaver there.. Meaning he had alot more pressure on him his Rookie year that Desean did during 2008.

Did almost as much with more balls going to more options. When Jackson was a rookie it was basically just him with a little bit of Westbrook and now and then Celek. THis past year with Maclin as a rookie, he had balls going to Jackson, a much better Celek, better Avant as well. So with less balls going his way Maclin still did a hell of a job I think and better then Jackson. Jackson’s rookie year McNabb didn’t have the options he did this past year. I like what Maclin gave us in his first season and I think he has a bright career.

Now in saying all of that, I can’t help but get excited to think about the next 5 – 8 years. With the young talent, Maclin, Jackson, Celek, Avant, McCoy and even Weaver….we could be very potent for years to come!! Of course their is always the money and health issues that seem to always come up!

Go EAGLES!!

Maclin is dependable, Jackson has flair.
Maclin seems to me like more of a multiple-catch guy, Jackson like more of a big-play guy.
The ideal is a combination of both of them.

in a few years he could be the next reggie wayne.

Maclin will be better than DJax. I think of what this tandem will be able to do…and I smile

I dont know about that. They will certainly be different players. From what Maclin has shown us hes a little more of a possesion receiver whereas Desean is the explosive playmaker. What i mean is i could see desean being the steve smith and maclin being the muhsin mohammad…one being more of an explosive catalyst than the other. thats the best way i can describe it i guess

It don’t even matter to me who had the best rookie season all that matters to me is that we have two nice receivers for the future. I personally think that Maclin is gonna be more clutch before it is all over with. As a receiver that is. I just can’t wait for this year where I think they will both have 1000 yard years