Chad Jackson has signed on to join the Raiders. Jackson was a former second round pick of the New England Patriots who played the 2008 and 2009 season with the Denver Broncos and was out of the NFL in 2010 after being released by Buffalo prior to the season. Jackson is a 6’1″ 205 pound wide receiver who ran a 4.32 forty time before he was drafted and just happened to be one of my favorite players following his 2005 junior season at Florida.
Believe it or not, Jackson was one of very few players that the New England Patriots have ever moved up to draft. New England gave up their second and third round pick of the draft to move up 16 places and take Jackson. But one thing the Patriots can never claim is that they have a knack for developing wide receivers. Both of their most productive receivers (Welker and Moss) during the Bill Bellicheat years have been groomed by different teams and then brought into the organization.
Jackson became one of my favorite collegiate players because of his hands and his explosiveness. But, then again, almost everybody who plays college football at Florida has a tendency to be explosive. Add to that Jackson was released from the Patriots after tearing his ACL, which tends to be a career ender for some of the offensive skill position players. Being drafted 36th overall may end up the highlight of his career.
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Jackson, however, will do exactly what he needs to do in Oakland when he joins the team for training camp. He will create competition and push the current squad further because they think if the team is bringing in more receivers they must be unsure of the ones they have. While Jackson was one of my favorites coming out of Gainesville, he is still a long shot to make the final roster and will probably end up being cut. But cheers to him for being willing to come out and take one more stab at this thing.
Who knows, he could be the next Denarius Moore.
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