The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have crossed off one of the biggest names on the free agent list on Thursday when they came to an agreement with DeSean Jackson. If you read the free agent primer we posted last week, you would’ve seen the reason for this signing, as it was the No. 1 location we had him tied to. The Buccaneers desperately needed someone to come in and stretch the field for them, and there was nobody better than Jackson.
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From a fantasy standpoint, this does multiple things for their skill-position players. Jameis Winston didn’t quite take a step back in 2016, but he also didn’t quite take a step forward. His 28 passing scores ranked seventh in the league, but his 18 interceptions ranked second. A large reason for this was his inability to connect with a wide receiver down the field, as he threw 69 attempts that traveled over 20 yards, but completed just 22 of them, had two of them dropped, and had six of them intercepted.
In steps Jackson, who ranked No. 3 in deep ball catch rate last season, hauling in 10 of 17 targets that traveled over 20 yards in the air. Four of those 17 targets were also turned into touchdowns. Over the last five seasons, Jackson has totaled 129 deep ball targets, and has dropped just two of them. His drop rate on deep balls is just 1.55 percent, a far cry from the 4.51 percent drop rate that Winston has dealt with for the last two seasons.
Winston isn’t afraid to throw the ball deep, either. His average depth of throw was 10.8 yards ranked No. 3 in 2016, behind only Cam Newton and Matt Barkley. Even in his rookie year, he wasn’t afraid to throw downfield, when his average depth of throw was 10.3 yards, ranking fifth in the league. Of the wide receivers who had at least 60 targets in 2016, Jackson ranked third in yards per target, behind only Julio Jones and Adam Thielen.
On top of Jackson being one of the premier deep threats in the league, third-year wide receiver Mike Evans is coming off a season in which he was the No. 1 fantasy wide receiver in standard leagues. Some may wonder if this hurts his value, but I’d argue that his quality of targets will now go up, which would make up for the decrease in volume that he’ll likely receive.
To recap, Winston just got himself another weapon, and one that fits what he was horribly missing. Jackson went to a team that has a legit No. 1 wide receiver on the other side of the field that ensures he won’t see double-teams all day, and Evans will now see a better quality of targets. This seems to be the best for all parties involved, especially Winston. It’s likely that Evans and Jackson won’t be as consistent as you’d like, but they both should improve on their efficiency. Quietly, this move likely vaults Winston into the top 12 at his position.
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
