Is DeSean Jackson Just Ted Ginn?

I had kind of an unsettling thought last night.  What if DeSean Jackon is really just Ted Ginn in a different college uniform?

I should explain.  For three years, I watched Ted Ginn play at Ohio State and I thought he was one of the most overrated players in college football.  Sure, he was fast.  You had to be careful kicking the ball to him.  But as a receiver, he didn't seem like anything special.

I know he kind of owned Michigan, but in three years against Penn State he accumulated a whopping seven catches for 78 yards and no touchdowns.  Great straight line speed, dangerous with the ball in his hands, but no route-running ability and easy to keep in check if you stayed disciplined.

In fact, last July I wrote this in my (yes, imaginary) mailbag:

Which rookie will have the biggest impact on the 2007 season? (Drew, Orlando)

... Keep an eye on Teddy Ginn though.  If there's one guy out there poised to change the way an entire fanbase thinks about its team, he's the one.  Or maybe he won't suck.  There's always a chance

So yeah, not a big fan.  Although I know not everyone agrees.  This Dolphins blogger has a good long post evaluating Ginn's rookie season.  (And it's worth reading that post if only to set realistic expectations about what NFL receivers are usually able to contribute in their rookie seasons.)  At least there's some room for optimism if you're a Miami fan -- although mostly because the team can't be any worse from this point forward so Ginn probably will have to have better numbers by default.   

But back to Jackson, take a look at the respective scouting reports coming out of college and tell me who's who:

Player #1

POSITIVES: Game-breaking skill player with home-run speed. Quick releasing off the line, has opponents playing back on their heels, and consistently stretches the field. Possesses a terrific burst of speed and runs to daylight if given the slightest space of open field.

NEGATIVES: Not big, and beaten out in physical battles. Easily brought down at the initial point of attack. Has trouble handling the jam.

ANALYSIS: A track and field sprinter who translates his natural speed onto the football field, [Player 1] is a vertical receiver who loosens up the defense. Must get stronger, but he's a game-breaking threat every time he steps onto the field.

And:

Player #2

POSITIVES: Game-breaking receiver with home run speed. Quick off the line, immediately gets to top speed, and possesses the second gear. Easily makes the difficult catch downfield running at full speed and not afraid to go up in a crowd for the reception. Shows excellent focus, looks the pass into his hands, and makes the reception away from his frame. Plays with good balance and body control and gets vertical to grab the high pass. Effectively positions himself and uses his frame to protect the ball. Extends and offers the quarterback a nice target. Adjusts to the errant throw and makes the reception in stride. Elusive handling the ball and can run to daylight if given the slightest bit of open space. Possesses soft hands and plucks the ball from the air.

NEGATIVES: Lacks the big frame and loses out in battles. Must be more disciplined running routes, as he tends to float out of breaks. Durability has been an issue the past two years.

ANALYSIS: [Player 2] is a tremendous athlete with rare speed and the ability to impact games in a variety of ways. He strikes fear in opponents and his ability to beat defenders downfield is highly respected. [Player 2] must physically mature and improve his playing strength, yet he should produce in a variety of ways at the next level.

Pretty similar, yeah?  And no, I didn't edit those other than to take out the names. 

...

I know the suspense is killing you ... so I'll tell you that #1 is Ginn and #2 is Jackson.

The good news is that Jackson's report talks more about how well he catches the ball.  That was a concern with Ginn coming out of college, but other than that, we're talking about the same guy.  Except that Ginn is an inch and a half taller, 10 pounds heavier and somewhat faster (according to their 40 times). 

Hmmm...

I guess the good news is that the Dolphins drafted Ginn at #9 and the Eagles took Jackson much, much later.  That's important.  On the other hand, I'm not convinced Ginn is ever going to be a #1 receiver in this league, so what does that mean for Jackson?

- - - - - -

Open discussion time: 

My brother watches more college football than I do.  When I sent this idea over to him, his response was: "I always thought Jackson was a more complete receiver than Ginn. It didn’t seem like he was just a track star. But I’ve only seen him play a couple times." 

What's the rest of Eagledom think?  Anyone out there feel like they watched enough of both guys in college to form a good opinion of the ways in which they're different?

For comparison, here's a good site with the college statistics of both Jackson and Ginn.

Eagles fans want to know.

Comments

[Bama]

I don't know if Jerry Rice can be impartial, since Jackson is one of their clients, be he was VERY complimentary about Jackson's route running. He said Jackson was much more advanced than he(Rice)was coming out of college. If he can run routes, with speed, maybe his size won't matter. Rice was certainly not a "physical" receiver.

[Tracer Bullet]

If the guy can produce an extra 15-20 yards of field position and kick in a TD or two on returns, I'll be happy. Five receptions for 50-70 yards is a solid day for a #3 receiver and Jackson can do that on special teams. I'm willing to let him take a few years to grow into becoming an NFL receiver.

[Eagle Scout]

I watched a lot of Jackson last year and I'm a big fan of him - writers like to discredit his receiving skills and route running, but Jackson is a much more polished receiver than you've been lead to believe. Scouts compared Ginn to Dante Hall, while Jackson has been compared to Steve Smith. Ginn is a straight line burner who lacks lateral quickness. Jackson has both.

Also realize that Ginn wasn't a wide receiver until he got to OSU. Jackson was a top ranked WR coming out of Long Beach Poly, the high school that has more NFL football players than any in the country.

Did I make you feel better yet?

[Me]

A little :)

[John B]

Is DeSean Jackson just Teddy Ginn? That's a really great question. I think that the answer lies in how they are utilized in their offenses. Ginn is on a team that is probably going to rely on him in the return game, as well a receiver. The Eagles are going to rely on Jackson to produce in the return game, and compete for playing time at receiver. I do not see either guy as a number 1 in any offense, and hope that is not where the Eagles intend to place him.

[BFH]

I long argued that Jackson was more Roscoe Parrish than Steve Smith -- and used that opinion as a basis for arguing that the Eagles should avoid drafting him in the first round, as many experts predicted they might.

But he's an interesting case for the Eagles specifically, simply because they so desperately need help with the return game. They don't "need" him to come in and immediately put up big numbers in receptions and yards (which, by the way, he didn't do in college).

If they can get the ball in his hands two or three times a game on offense it will be enough to make me happy. Let's see what he does on the NFL level with the football.

[Mike in Vegas]

I am a huge PAC-10 fan so I've seen a lot of Jackson in the past few years. There are really two things I've noticed: 1)He's a dangerous returner - against any opponent.
2) He's a mediocre receiver against any half-decent secondary.

At the next level he's going to play against the best college football had to offer in every secondary he plays against - he'll get eaten alive. If you pay attention to the games he had against SEC teams (fast secondaries) or USC or any other physical team, he disappeared - like Ginn against Penn State.

However, he has always has success in the return game, regardless of opponent. I think he'll be great for that aspect of the Eagles game. As a receiver though, he'll probably be good for one or two catches a game (assuming they don't just run the ball when he's in the game) and that's it.

[Gabe from BountyBowl]

Not to read the tea leaves too much, but did we notice Andy Reid mentioning (more than once) that Jackson catches the ball well? I feel like the receivers in Philly have stuggled with their hands at times in recent years, and that fixing that issue is at a premium (and might explain why the Birds are/ were fired up about Curtis).

The comment about the USC and SEC secondaries is troubling.

[Tom G, ballssticksstuff.com]

To echo some of the other comments, I almost don't care if Jackson ever catches a pass, it's the return game that counts. It would be nice if the offense only had to go 65-70 yards for a touchdown once in a while, rather than 80 all the time.

[Wilbert Montgomery]

I only saw the guy a couple times in college but he was a dynamic player that could change the game every time he had the ball. I don't think we are going to see him as an integral part of the passing game but I think Andy is going to make an effort to get the ball in his hands a few times a game and see what he can do. This will clearly include special teams but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him involved in some gadget plays - like reverses. Also, it is hard to evaluate the value of speed on the edge even if they don't throw to him a lot. So he's got good straight line speed? Send him straight down the sideline and run a screen behind him. Let Reggie come out of the slot and do the downfield blocking. Andy is pretty creative and I think he'll find ways to use the kid at least a few times a game. But the bottom line is he has to come out and show some heart in camp and not let that EA Sports cover get to his head or he'll be warming the bench.

[Wilbert Montgomery]

I only saw the guy a couple times in college but he was a dynamic player that could change the game every time he had the ball. I don't think we are going to see him as an integral part of the passing game but I think Andy is going to make an effort to get the ball in his hands a few times a game and see what he can do. This will clearly include special teams but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him involved in some gadget plays - like reverses. Also, it is hard to evaluate the value of speed on the edge even if they don't throw to him a lot. So he's got good straight line speed? Send him straight down the sideline and run a screen behind him. Let Reggie come out of the slot and do the downfield blocking. Andy is pretty creative and I think he'll find ways to use the kid at least a few times a game. But the bottom line is he has to come out and show some heart in camp and not let that EA Sports cover get to his head or he'll be warming the bench.

[Wilbert Montgomery]

I only saw the guy a couple times in college but he was a dynamic player that could change the game every time he had the ball. I don't think we are going to see him as an integral part of the passing game but I think Andy is going to make an effort to get the ball in his hands a few times a game and see what he can do. This will clearly include special teams but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him involved in some gadget plays - like reverses. Also, it is hard to evaluate the value of speed on the edge even if they don't throw to him a lot. So he's got good straight line speed? Send him straight down the sideline and run a screen behind him. Let Reggie come out of the slot and do the downfield blocking. Andy is pretty creative and I think he'll find ways to use the kid at least a few times a game. But the bottom line is he has to come out and show some heart in camp and not let that EA Sports cover get to his head or he'll be warming the bench.

[Wilbert Montgomery]

Dooh! Sorry 'bout that. Not sure how that happened.

[flee]

jackson seems like a more natural receiver while ginn seems to have more straight line speed.

what i wonder is if ginn had a great rookie season, would alot of teams then wanted a ted ginn of their own? and would that have gotten jackson drafted alot higher than he was since both players superficially seem so similar? if jackson turns out to be a great player (and i think he will), i would like to thank ted ginn for sucking it up his rookie year.

[Eagles Man in San Fran]

Some disturbing receiving stats for DeSean:

In 10 regular season games this year (he missed the Stanford game), he caught 60 balls for 681 yards (6 catches/game for 68 yds/game). Not terrific numbers, but given that Cal had 3 good WRs, OK.

However, except for 3 games around the middle of the year, he was clearly the #3 WR on the team. His 3 big games:
Oregon: 11 catches for 161
UCLA: 9 catches for 136
ASU: 5 catches for 88

Take those 3 games aways and you're left with just 35 catches for 296 yards over 7 games (5 catches/game for just 42 yds/game).

Oh and by the way, the 3 teams he went off on - none had great passing defenses: Oregon ranked at #84 in passing yards allowed, UCLA at #70 and ASU at #68.

So a future #1 receiver like Steve Smith? Highly doubtful.

Another #3 receiver? Much more likely.

As far as a returner, very dangerous, but it comes back to the $64k question - how many NFL-type hits can he take returning punts and kickoffs?? Here's hoping that he's awfully "elusive" and not just "fast".

[AJ Ball]

I live in Pac-10 football country and have seen Jackson play quite a bit. I have to say I was never a big fan of the guy, but I am now! He absolutely devastated my beloved Oregon Ducks in each of the three games we faced him. The guy is silky smooth as a receiver, unbelievably fast, and he flat out never drops passes. Punt returns... we tried to boot the ball out of bounds and he tracks it down, slivers thru traffic and takes it to the house. I'm telling you, you hold your breath every time the guys has the ball in his hands in the open field.

One of the earlier posters had a great point on the fact that he will stretch the field. I know it's difficult for rookies to contribute much in the passing game, but defenses will absolutely have to respect his speed. He gets a step and look out.

I guess you never really know until they play the games, but I'm confident this kid is going to make us all jump from our seats more than a handful of times this season.

[Eagle Scout]

Eagles Man - Jackson was also injured all of last year with a hand injury that had to be thickly wrapped - that's what may have affected his receiving numbers.

[BossHotSauce]

Jackson also drew the bulk of the oppositions attention and had mediocre quarterbacks throwing him the ball.

[Calfan]

The other commenters have covered the salient points. I would summarize like this:
- Jackson was a better college receiver than Ginn. Jackson had the same game-breaking speed (give or take), but also had legitimate receiver skills: he was a fluid route runner, had soft hands, could make guys miss in space (i.e., could change direction better than Ginn).
- Ginn has a better NFL body. Jackson's size makes him easier to jam at the line and take out of plays; he's less of a blocking threat; he may be more susceptible to injury (hard to say). For all his freakish talent and speed, his size / strength could limit him in the league more than Ginn.
- I think they're about equal in the return game. Ginn was more of a straight-line accelerator; Jackson was more instinctive and fooled coverage with changes of direction.

In a nutshell: Jackson's talent / speed / skills give him more upside than Ginn, but his size limits him more than Ginn. If he overcomes that (in the weightroom, taking notes on Steve Smith), he should be better than Ginn; if he doesn't, he might end up a devastating arena league player.

[Brian]

As a Cal fan I saw most of Jackson's game. He's a much better receiver than Ginn - he has great hands, not a great route runner but runs more than the 3 routes Ginn ran in college, has made his share of tough catches in traffic.

Since his first games on Cal I've seen him as the second coming of Steve Smith. Check out Smith's career numbers though, took him a couple of years to develop as a receiver in the NFL. As for the issue of getting bumped at the line, Jackson is the most explosive player I've seen in college football in a while and is quick enough to avoid the jam. Ginn doesn't have his lateral explosiveness and should struggle more against the jam. Don't look too much into DeSean's 2007 stats, he was injured, Cal had 3 good receivers to throw to, and QB play was erratic over the year. Look at his 2006 stats though - Ginn never put up over 1,000 yards receiving.

Two things I would worry about with Jackson; obviously his size would scare me because he isn't as stocky as Steve Smith and might get hurt, and also his cocky attitude.