When One Buc Place brought in DeSean Jackson to Tampa Bay, one of the main drawing points was his speed coupled with his production thus far. Tampa Bay had signed some speed guys before, but those projects never seemed to work out. Jackson though, has a track record, and I’m sure Licht was already picturing the highlight reels when he signed him too. It seemed like a no-brainer deal.
Fast forward a year, and the opposite has been true. Jackson has had the speed, but he and Jameis Winston could never connect with the long ball. And you never saw him returning punts. Which the main consensus by everyone seemed odd. Simply put, overall he hasn’t lived up to the hype.
Now through camp and three preseason games, it seems like Winston and Jackson’s chemistry has improved and head coach Dirk Koetter says Jackson is now in the mix for the return job, because he wants to be. Maybe it’s because he’s looking over his shoulder and sees Godwin approaching fast, and doesn’t want his role diminished overall? So he is now willing to do more to keep his playing time up.
Whatever the case may be, having Jackson do at least some work as a punt returner could on mean good things for the Bucs. As it could definitely help their special teams become something special.
