Game-breaker Jackson becomes draft home run for Eagles

The surprise with wide receiver DeSean Jackson is not that he's making such an enormous impact on the NFL in his first two seasons. It's that he's making such an enormous impact with the Philadelphia Eagles.

First of all, the club isn't exactly known for direct hits on wide receivers in the draft. Second, Jackson shouldn't have even been there when the Eagles stepped up. They had a first-round grade on him, yet found him deep in the second round of the 2008 draft -- with Jackson the seventh wide receiver to come off the board.

Picked ahead of DeSean Jackson? Donnie Avery, Devin Thomas, Jordy Nelson, James Hardy, Eddie Royal and Jerome Simpson. (US Presswire)

The Eagles thought then they had themselves a steal. They were right.

Jackson not only is one of the most dangerous receivers in the game, he's the most dangerous player, period, on the Eagles roster. He can catch. He can fly. And he makes big plays. Lots of them.

Brian Westbrook is not the team's MVP this season. Nor is Donovan McNabb. It is Jackson, and those six touchdowns of 50 or more yards are the proof.

"Every time he touches the ball," said general manager Tom Heckert, "he can score."

Every time he touches the ball he does something big with it. He has 46 touches this year -- and I'm talking rushing, receiving and returns -- and averages 18.3 yards per. That's what I would call a playmaker, and there is no more effective playmaker on the Eagles these days than Jackson. He scores on bombs. He scores on punt returns. Heck, he even peeled off a 67-yard touchdown run.

He isn't just good; he's scary good, able to blow open a game with a single play, as he did in last weekend's resounding defeat of the New York Giants. After the Giants had closed to within 16-7 shortly before halftime, Philadelphia looked to answer with a quick strike. It took one snap, with McNabb finding a wide-open Jackson for a 54-yard touchdown.

Shortly afterward, the Eagles -- now staked to a 30-7 lead -- called a timeout with 11 seconds left in the period. The idea was to extend the half by one play and allow Jackson a chance to return a punt. For some reason, the Giants' Jeff Feagles kicked the ball to Jackson rather than sending it out of bounds, practically daring him to break a big return. He came close, running 30 yards before he was hauled down.

"He's a game changer," said Heckert. "Other teams have to worry about him receiving and in the return game. It's a scary thing for defenses and special teams."

I'll tell you what's a scary thing: That six other teams looking for wide receivers passed on Jackson in the 2008 draft. The Rams took the first wideout with Donnie Avery. Then Washington chose Devin Thomas. Green Bay followed with Jordy Nelson, Buffalo took James Hardy and Denver went for Eddie Royal. After Cincinnati took a flyer on Coastal Carolina's Jerome Simpson, the Eagles had Jackson all to themselves with the 49th pick.

"We were shocked," said Heckert. "We thought if there was any receiver that would go in the first round it would have been him."

But potential suitors had serious reservations about the guy, and I'll tell you why: Character issues and Jackson's size (he's 5-feet-10, 175 pounds) scared them off and helped push him down draft boards. But they didn't scare off Philadelphia because A) the Eagles needed speed at outside receiver, which Jackson had; B) they needed an explosive return specialist, which Jackson was; and C) they did their homework.

"We went back and talked to his teammates and his coaches," said Heckert. "Guys are usually pretty honest after the season, and we would ask them, 'Would you want to have this guy on your team?' And everyone said, 'Yes.' We knew there were things that were going on, but it wasn't bad stuff. It was more like playing through injuries and how you handle that."

Jackson made an immediate impact as a rookie because he was allowed to make an immediate impact. With injuries to key wide receivers, the Eagles had him practice -- then play -- with the first-teamers, and he was an instant success. Now he's a big-time game-breaker, with Jackson and Jeremy Maclin the outside big-play threats that McNabb hasn't had since the departure of Terrell Owens.

So Jackson doesn't make a lot of catches. When he does make them, he makes them count. All I know is that if someone else had gotten smart and beaten the Eagles to him, Philadelphia wouldn't be where it is today.

"I'm glad we don't have to worry about it," said Heckert.