Eagles can finally fill a void DeSean Jackson left years ago (maybe)

Those of you who eat, sleep, and drink Philadelphia Eagles football won’t need to be reminded of this, but DeSean Jackson wasn’t a first-round draft choice (even if it seems like he should have been). Nope! The Birds took him 49th-overall, during Round 2 of 2008’s NFL Draft. Maybe luck was on their side that day.

Philly didn’t select in Round 1, electing instead to trade back into the second round and spend their first draft choice that year on Trevor Laws at 47. Jackson was taken two spots later at 49.

There wasn’t a single wide receiver taken during Round 1 in 2008. D-Jax wound up being the seventh wideout taken after Donnie Avery, Devin Thomas, Jordy Nelson, James Hardy, Eddie Royal, and Jerome Simpson.

DeSean went on to solidify himself as the best deep-threat in NFL history. It makes you wonder where he would have gone today if we could go back and know what we know now, doesn’t it?

D-Jax went on to catch 398 passes. He racked up 6,833 and 37 trips to the end zone in midnight green. He racked up another 1.470 yards and four more touchdowns as a returner. Those numbers include what he did in six playoff games.

Since his departure, he’s left a void Philly hasn’t been able to consistently fill, but you can only have the best deep-threat ever once, right? Sure, Quez Watkins is solid, speedy, and should evolve into a solid deep threat. He was a sixth-rounder for a reason though. Philadelphia would be wise to continue to study deep threats and study they shall.

The Eagles have a shot to finally fill the void DeSean Jackson left.

Somewhere, the great Al Davis is smiling. It seems like we say this more often than we should, but the 2022 NFL Draft class is loaded with wide receiver talent, and they can fly. Philly’s offense needs a complement for DeVonta Smith on the outside, and no one would complain if they found someone who brings back memories of Number 10.

Here’s some good news. There will be some track stars in the next selection meeting, and depending on how things go, the Eagles could wind up with one or two. Check out some of these 40 times from the wide receiver’s NFL Scouting Combine workout.

• Tyquan Thornton, Baylor Bears (4.28)
• Velus Jones, Tennessee Volunteers (4.31)
• Calvin Austin, Memphis Tigers (4.32)
• Alec Pierce, Cincinnati Bearcats and Danny Gray, SMU Mustangs (4.33)
• Bo Melton, Rutgers Scarlett Knights (4.34)
• Christian Watson, North Dakota State Bison (4.36)
• Garrett Wilson, Ohio State Buckeyes (4.38)
• Chris Olave, Ohio State Buckeyes (4.39)
• Skyy Moore, Western Michigan Broncos (4.41)
• Isaiah Weston, Northern Iowa Panthers (4.42)
• Jahan Dotson (Penn State), Khalil Shakir (Boise State), Kevin Austin Jr. (Notre Dame) all ran 4.43

Again, there’s only one DeSean Jackson, but if the Birds land one of these guys and the speed translates to the professional level, perhaps on a few streaks or verticals, we could hear some comparisons made to D-Jax. That should put a smile on your face as we move through the draft process and the end of April approaches.