DeSean Jackson Is The Game Changer The Washington Redskins Needed

DeSean Jackson will bring something totally different to the table for the Washington Redskins in 2014. It’s been a long time since the team has had a legitimate game changer on offense. With Jackson now in the fold, defenses will have to keep tabs on every move he makes in the Jay Gruden system. This, of course, is why Jackson will take the “AJ Green role” in Gruden’s offense as the “Z” receiver. When Gruden was the offensive coordinator with the Cincinatti Bengals, he moved Green all over the place to create mismatches. Although Green is a much bigger receiver than DeSean Jackson, it was his ability to win one-on-one matchups and his deep threat speed that allowed flexibility in Gruden’s scheme.

“I think this offense is very flexible,” said Jackson in his Friday presser. “Just being able to have the personnel of having J-Reed, who plays tight end that can actually split out as wide receiver… We can get Alfred Morris to come down and run routes of the backfield. Pierre, Santana, Andre and myself, I mean the sky is the limit. Honestly, it is. And at any given time a defense is going to have to be accountable for multiple guys, not just one guy, not just two guys, but four or five guys every play. Just going through the progress and just learning the plays and knowing where everybody is going to be is the biggest thing and RGIII, he’s going to have a lot on his hands because, like I said, there’s going to be a lot of guys open, hopefully. That’s the plan to just make it easier for him, as long as guys are open and he knows where to dish it to, it’ll be fun for us to go run and score touchdowns and make big plays for him. I think that’s what we look forward to.”

In Washington, HC Jay Gruden arguably has more toys to play with than he did in Cincinnati. Pierre Garcon has been the go-to for QB Robert Griffin III the past two seasons and there wasn’t much behind him. Now, the Redskins have DeSean Jackson in the fold and a secret weapon in Andre Roberts. Not to mention, an up-and-coming premier Tight End in Jordan Reed. With RB Alfred Morris toting the rock, all of a sudden the Washington Redskins could potentially have a lethal offense. The challenge, however, will be making sure all these weapons get fed and remain happy.

“Honestly, me and Andre [Roberts] were just talking about it earlier,” said DJax of the offense. “It’s very dangerous and it’s very scary – I’d rather be on the team that has all the weapons. It just makes it easier for Robert. Actually, me and Andre were saying every play somebody has to be open. With me, Tana [Santana Moss], Pierre [Garçon], J-Reed [Jordan Reed], Roberts, it’s so many options – Alfred Morris. There’s just so many options that regardless of how you play it, somebody’s going to have to keep an eye on RGIII, because if not, he’s going to run. If somebody doesn’t get double teamed, another receiver is going to be open. So like I said, we’re putting in the effort to go out there and just all be open. As long as we’re all open, it makes it easier for RGIII, so that’s what we look forward to.”

Robert Griffin III has quickly learned just how fast DJax is so far this off-season. Jackson is so fast that on day one of training camp he zoomed past the entire defense and Griffin under threw him by about ten yards. It will take some time for them to get in sync on those deep balls. Griffin, by no means, lacks the arm strength. He just has to give Jackson the “Randy Moss treatment” by throwing the ball earlier to hit him in stride before he shifts into another gear.

In regards to building chemistry with his new quarterback, Jackson says — “honestly, that’s what practice is for – going out there every day and just working and taking rep after rep after rep.” He continued,”really trying to get on the same page and get on the same accord as the offense, being a new offense [with] Jay Gruden in his first year, my first year here, RGIII [Robert Griffin III] being in his third year. Really it’s just kind of new for everybody. We had a couple of months into it to learn it, so I think everybody has a grasp for the system now. The best thing I can say about it is we’re out here putting in the time and effort inside the meeting rooms and we’re translating that onto the practice field. That’s a start, but at the end of the day, you’ve still got to go out there and you’ve still got to practice and you’ve still got to make plays and do everything that your coaches are asking you to do. I know for us, we’re just doing our jobs. We have a job to do – it’s to go out there and make plays. Rob has the job to do, which is to go out there and control the offense, so everybody has to play their part.”

DeSean Jackson is coming off a career-season after spending a year in Chip Kelly’s system. However, Jackson says the Redskins’ new system with Jay Gruden is more similar to his former coach Andy Reid. “As far as [Eagles Head Coach] Chip Kelly’s offense last year, it was a fast, speedy offense and it just had a lot of different looks, where this year it’s back to the West Coast Offense as far as kind of similar to how Coach [Andy] Reid and Marty Mornhinweg [were] my first four years in Philly. I have a lot of similarities with my previous offense, like I said with Coach Reid and Marty to now with Jay Gruden, so a lot of things are similar to the West Coach Offense, a lot of terminology and things like that are similar. So that’s what you look forward to – just trying to match up the things that I’ve known in the past to where I’m at now.”

Jackson has always seemed to play with a chip on his shoulder, being a smaller receiver. Now that chip’s size has increased. Although, Jackson says his main focus isn’t on proving the Philidelphia Eagles wrong — it’s to help his new team win. “Honestly, man, I just want to help my team win games,” he said. “I’ve been a firm believer all of my career – the best I can go out there and make plays and spark the team with energy and things like that. The little things I just say [are] the things to help my team as far as with energy and just kind of being that guy that’s out there making plays and just leading by example. I don’t really have to say too much, but as long as I’m out there making plays and having fun and playing at a level where I’m used to playing at. I think I’ll just feed off of other guys here as well, too. That’s what I look forward to is to continue to go out there and be known as one of the best playmakers in this league.”
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