Both Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon Has Proved Their Worth But Garcon May Have Earned a Stay in Washington
by Jamual Forrest
In a year where not just Kirk is in a prove it year, receivers Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon are on the last year of their respective deals and the front office per usual is in evaluation mode at all times. Pierre and Desean brings two different things to the table, where Jackson is the speed demon and the deep threat of the offense and Garcon is “Mr. Reliable” off the offense in his ability to effectively work short to intermediate areas of the field finding the first down markers. Heading into the last quarter of the season if there was a race between the two receivers to determine who gets the contract extension from Washington, Pierre Garcon has taken the lead in the eyes of many.
Heading into the season many people believed Desean Jackson should be in Washington over Garcon due to the dynamic he brought to the offense, which is completely fine to think, but in my opinion those same people did not take into consideration the need for Pierre Garcon in this specific offense here in Washington. This style of offense, one of the many variations of the west coast offense, is not a vertical offense where they rely on the deep shots heavily than any other pass to get their offense moving. Pierre Garcon is capable of running all the routes needed for this offense, even occasional deep post patterns that most thought was not in his repertoire, and is a constant chain mover for the Redskins. Pierre has 714 yards on 59 catches this year, with just 2 touchdowns. Of his 59 catches so far in 2016 though, 39 catches have been for 1st downs which is 66% conversion rate when thrown to him. Along with Jordan Reed and Jamison Crowder, Garcon is and has been one of Kirk’s most reliable targets at the receiver position. Outside of his abilities as a pass catcher and route runner, he has a mean streak as a ball carrier and run blocker which you don’t see in many receivers. I was one of the ones who thought Desean Jackson was the guy you kept over Pierre initially, and as the season went along he’s completely swayed me, cause his style of play as a receiver is one that can continue well into his 30s and that is worth something.
When you look at Desean Jackson, there hardly is anything to knock on him as a receiver, as he is definitely an elite weapon. The things that are issues however availability and involvement in this offense. This year Desean has only missed one game due to injury, but last year he played in 10 missing majority of the first half of the season due to shoulder and hamstring issues. Whereas Garcon has played in 100% of games available to play since 2013. Lately Kirk has been taking shot after shot to Desean down the field and connecting on them for big plays with this offense, but outside of the big play potential with Jackson he is not heavily utilized in this offense. It’s not all on Jackson, however; the emergence of Jamison Crowder made him the go to guy in the receiver screen game with Reed and Garcon typically working areas of the field that’s 5 to 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. Essentially, Jackson is limited to boundaries if he is not working the deep middle of the field. The strategy utilized works well for our offense; however, there are guys waiting in the wings who are capable of filling the void of Desean Jackson. Rookie receiver Josh Doctson was brought in to be the big play guy for this offense and potentially the number one receiver, and with undrafted free agent Maurice Harris emerging as solid option for Kirk as well he is likely to have his role increased as the weeks go along. Jackson is a great talent and has elite speed, but with the way this offense has performed this year I believe they are well prepared to thrive in the absence of Jackson.