Wide receiver DeSean Jackson caught 50 passes for 668 yards and three touchdowns during his first season with the Buccaneers and that production represented a drop across the board from what he did in his final year in Washington.
Some of that drop could be attributed to the presence of Mike Evans in the offense and some could be attributed to playing without quarterback Jameis Winston while Winston was dealing with shoulder injuries, but the overall need for more was the subject of an article by Thomas Bassinger of the Tampa Bay Times last week.
Winston took note of the article and responded on Twitter by writing that he will “personally will make sure we show how valuable” Jackson is during the 2018 season. Bucs coach Dirk Koetter added himself to the list of people who need to do a better job of getting Jackson chances to show off his skills.
“DeSean was where he was supposed to be,” Koetter said. “He was either behind the defense, in between the corner and safety, or he was in position to make explosive plays, and we didn’t get the ball to him. That’s on myself, it’s on Jameis to do better. I think DeSean and Jameis have said they need to spend more time working together, and I think they’re addressing that.”
Plenty of things went wrong for the Buccaneers in 2017 and a bigger offensive role for Jackson would be a way to turn one of them around as they try for better results in 2018.