Washington Redskins: Keep DeSean Jackson over Pierre Garcon
By Andrew Long
Decision time is looming for teams around the league and that includes the Washington Redskins. The team may have to choose between Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson at wideout as keeping both players would be a very expensive option.
The Washington Redskins will have to make decisions about the futures of various players on their roster in the coming weeks and months. Wide receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson, while very skilled, are two of the players that general manager Scot McCloughan will have to take long, hard looks at because of the amount of money that they are currently set to receive.
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The two wideouts played important roles in Washington’s NFC East title and playoff berth. There’s no questioning the value that they bring to the team as veterans in the locker room, as both players have years of experience at the professional level. While it would be nice to keep both players on the roster, I simply don’t see that happening without one, or both, of them restructuring their deals.
Jackson and Garcon restructuring their deals would be the ideal solution, but I don’t see that happening. If it comes down to selecting one or the other, I personally believe that the team should opt for Jackson. Garcon has played a lot of good football for the Redskins during his stint with the team, but his drop off in production over the last few seasons is concerning.
His 2015 numbers were slightly better than his 2014 numbers, but they were still subpar for a player that is supposed to be considered a number one receiver. His receptions increased by four, his yards by 25, and his touchdowns by three, giving him 72 receptions for 777 yards and six touchdowns.
I understand that Garcon’s stats aren’t awful, but, in my opinion, they’re not what you want out of your number-one option. He garnered more receptions, yards, and touchdowns than Jackson did last season but that was due to the fact that the latter was injured for the first half of the season.
Once he returned to the lineup, however, he played very well, catching 30 passes for 528 yards and four touchdowns. Jackson, in only eight full games, managed to garner nearly as many yards as Garcon did in twice as many games. His incredible speed, which allowed him to register 17.6 yards per catch, is the main reason Jackson is such a dangerous weapon. His ability to stretch a defense is unmatched, and it’s an element of Washington’s offense that I believe took the unit to the next level.
The Redskins were 3-4 in the games Jackson missed and 6-3 in the games that he was fully active for during the regular season. Washington’s passing game undoubtedly benefited from his presence, as their passing yards per game elevated from 241 yards per game to 267 yards per game, a 26-yard increase.
This leads me to believe that the team plays better with Jackson in the game, even if he doesn’t haul in a long touchdown on the day. The 29-year-old wideout forces defenses to be accountable, and usually draws double coverage, which allows other players to contribute underneath.
Pierre Garcon is often that player, averaging 10.8 yards per reception in 2015. His ability to move the chains is important, however, I think that Washington could get the same production out of a younger, cheaper receiver. Scot McCloughan is known to target physical football players, which leads me to believe that he’d like to get bigger and stronger at the position moving forward.
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Like I said earlier, I’d like to see both players remain on the roster, but it will be awfully hard for that to happen without somebody taking a pay cut. If McCloughan and company do have to make a decision between the two players, I believe they should retain Jackson over Garcon.
At the end of the day, Jackson’s speed is simply too big of an asset for the Washington Redskins to lose.