Game film: Reviewing all of DeSean Jackson's 'drops'

The only one I find debatable from your angle is the Lions’ drop. Is it a drop, or was it good defense? I guess I’ll go with you, as that is a ball your #1 should make. Still good coverage on DJax.

That’s atrocious though if PFF included those first two missed catches as “drops.” They were so far from drops. The first was thrown behind him and he was only able to get one hand on the ball. The other isn’t even a debate. Like you said, he didn’t even see the ball and wasn’t even able to get a fingertip on the ball.

The rest of them I agree with you on. Eight drops in total still isn’t great, but not nearly as bad as the 12 drops that were first so highly discussed/publicized when the study was released.

The thing to keep in mind here is that PFF gives each play a grade.

So while a playaction 80 yard TD could earn Jackson a +2 grade, the play prior when he didn’t effectively block the cb on a McCoy draw earned him a -0.5.

At the end of the day, all the positives, in their eyes, outweigh the negitives. PFF prides itself on judging players on all aspects of the game. It works great for offensive linemen and safeties, but not so much on WR’s. Especially the big play guys.

But to me, it’s kind of a moot point… the drops are really only part of a larger equation. A receiver that dropped half of the passes thrown to him but made 80 yrd gains on the other half would be the best receiver in the league. So, what we really want to look at “yards per target”, as Pro Football Focus themselves admit. It automatically takes drops into account, along with stupid mistakes that the WR make that are harder for us to notice… but it’ll also give credit to players that make those receptions count. It’s not perfect, of course, since the QBs throwing the ball matter, but I’d argue that QBs matter for drops, too.

Quickly pulling up stats from some random site for “yards per target, 2010-11”, Jackson has 11.0 YPT (the second best in the league). So, can I live with the drops? Yes sir, I can.

Reminds me of some of your old work, now that you’re big time. Good stuff… rec’d.

I’m also skeptical sometimes of the way the grade out their players. There is no way in hell that there are 103 receivers better than him. Another thing to think is when different people are reviewing game film is how different people view what is a “catchable ball” and what isn’t.

For example out of the “11 drops” above, how many are in clutch conditions (ie 3rd down, on late 2nd/4th quarter drive, for a TD):

1) 1st & 10 – Not Clutch
2) 2nd & 9 – Not Clutch
3) 3rd & 3 – Clutch
4) 3rd & 3 – Clutch
5) 2nd & 10 – Not Clutch
6) 1st & 10 – Not Clutch
7) 3rd & 7 in the Redzone – Clutch
8) 1st & 10 – Not Clutch
9) 1st & Goal – Clutch
10) 1st & 10 – Not Clutch
11) 2nd & 10 – Not Clutch

So he “dropped” 4 balls in clutch conditions, 2 for TD’s in the redzone & 2 for 3rd down conversions. But then how many clutch plays did he make all season? I bet a stat comparing % successfully caught catchable balls in clutch conditions would be a lot higher than most players in the league!

I told you Jason!

If PFF was equally harsh on drops for every WR, I don’t know that the overall rankings would change dramatically. If DeSean’s drop percentage is lowered, presumably so would other WRs who were judged with the same eye.

So while it’s certainly good to be able to say that the gross amount of drops is not as high as PFF might say, I still wonder where he is in relation to the rest of the league. I suspect that no matter how we measure it, he’ll be up there.

You get 2 hands on it, it’s a drop, PERIOD.

I remember watching this one and just feeling sick to my stomach. #30, whether he touched it or not, did NOT affect the trajectory enough for that to be dropped. You can clearly see DeSean feels #27 coming and starts to duck it before the ball hits his hands.

He shouldn’t be out there if that Dunta hit versus the Falcons is still affecting him.

I was raised ‘if the ball hits your hands you should catch it’ so I’d probably be the worst person to judge drops.

Im counting 9 because if Desean wants to be an elite WR he needs to catch the ball against Chicago. Also, How do u put these clips together do u have the tape at home.

They would be fun to play against.

Remember that time in 08’, when he dropped 2 TD passes vs Washington? That game that everyone thought took us out of the post season?

Or Is he down in 104th place because he has more drops than a receiver who got thrown to 20 times last season?

Or maybe hes the 104th best receiver of receivers of the past 10 years?

I don’t know I just wanted to post something for the first time in 2 months…

that the “up next” video after the first series of plays is “DeSean Jackson – Drop the World.”

The Lions play DJack is covered like a blanket. The endzone play against the Giants, I would say he’s covered. Also, DJack gets thrown a lot more deep passes than probably anyone in the league and it’s much harder to catch a longer pass than a shorter one. You have to concentrate longer. You have to have better timing. Plus, you are more tired because you have taken many more steps. For a possession WR, catching short patterns where you are often sitting in a zone and not trying to run and catch at the same time is a lot easier.

there were about 2 of them that were clear drops, and all of the excuses in the world can’t change that. nevertheless, still alot of drops for a premier receiver in this league, although def. not enough to make him 104th in anything. PFF is so strangely interesting – alot of insightful information there, but some questionable ratings. it seems as if their rating system is run by the new world order – a bunch of faceless figures with inconceivable numbers doled out. oh well. good job dawkie.