TAMPA –- The guy in the No. 1 jersey on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice field was flying down the field Tuesday as the team opened organized team activities, their first real practice of any sort this year.
That lean, smallish player ran deep routes in one-on-one situations, showing off his gazelle-like stride to the dismay of corners trying to match up. But who was he? There isn't a No.1 on the Tampa Bay roster.
Three plays in, you could tell who it was.
It was receiver DeSean Jackson, their high-priced, marquee free-agent signing who just might be the key to getting to the postseason in 2017 -- and maybe going far once there. Jackson asked to wear No. 1 in practice, something he did with the Washington Redskins the past three seasons,
"I've had a thing about No. 1 since I've been in Pop Warner," Jackson said. "It kind of keeps my youth, something from when I was younger and I was able to rock that one."
The single digit makes him look even faster than when he is wearing his normal No. 11 jersey. That's because Jackson and speed have gone together for his entire life, dating back to his winning races on the park fields in the Los Angeles area as a kid and high school and in college at the University of California, and then to two other NFL stops with the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.
His is the type of speed that scares defenders into nightmares as they line up across from him. One misstep, and it could be six.
You can't teach that type of speed.
"Speed kills," Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said Tuesday. "He had three reps in one-on-one (Tuesday) and he was ready to go over the top on all three times. We knew what we were getting when we signed DeSean Jackson. He has a gear we haven't had the three years I've been here."
That gear will change the Tampa Bay offense. In 2016, it was mostly Mike Evans outside getting doubled with little help on the other side. With Jackson, teams won't be able to play the same type of coverage.
Mostly they doubled Evans last year, and played quarter coverage on other side, which meant the safety could help in the run game as well. That would be big-play suicide against Jackson if they try to do the same thing now. That led to quarterback Jameis Winston holding the ball too long at times, which wasn't a good thing behind a so-so offensive line.
"One of the things I learned that's a little different than college is if you have one receiver that's good enough, they have to roll coverage there, clouding that way or doubling over there," Koetter said. "You have to be able to either run the ball or you have to throw it to the other side. Last year, we couldn't do either. You have to be able to win over there. We say a 16-yard pass is an explosive play. DeSean's career average is 17.7 -- or an explosive play every time. He and Mike will complement each other very well."
The amazing stat of the day came from Koetter: Tampa Bay was the only NFL team that didn't have a pass play of 50 yards or longer last season. Jackson had four by himself.
That's why giving Jackson a three-year, $33 million deal made sense for the Bucs, even if he has just four touchdowns in each of the past two seasons. Being able to stretch the field, or the mere threat of it, will make Winston a better quarterback.
At 30, Jackson doesn't look to be slowing down either.
"I don't think so, man," Jackson said. "I honestly don't feel like it."
"He hasn't," Winston said. "I haven't overthrown him yet. He's an amazing player, unique player. The way he runs isn't all out all the time, but he has that amazing burst to turn it on like a jackrabbit."
The excitement of adding Jackson didn't stop offensive coordinator Todd Monken from challenging his receiver last week with some quotes that went viral.
"How can we get DeSean Jackson up to playing at a really high level? Not that he's still not capable of it, but how do we get him to play at what we paid him?" Monken said. "I've told him that, 'We have paid you a hell of a lot of money to be a (very) good player. … We don't have any old street cred that we're paying you. No. We need you to be a great player now. Okay? That's why we gave you the money. You came here because of the money. Don't give me all that bull about you came here because of the weather and Jameis. No. You came here because we paid you the most. You need to play like that.' He gets that. He's smart enough to understand that."
Asked about it Tuesday, Jackson didn't seem bothered by it at all – and indications are that the two have smoothed the comments over, if there was any issue at all.
"I think anybody sitting in this room, and you're going to have a chance to get a pay raise, you'd do the same," Jackson said. "It's not all about money, but it definitely played a key part. I expect high expectations for myself. I don't let nobody else control it. I expect the same thing. However someone feels, that's how they feel. When I am out there on the field, I give it all I got."
Jackson said he spent this offseason working as hard as he has since coming into the league. He went back to work with his track coach in California, the same one who worked with Washington receiver John Ross to help him set the combine record for the 40-yard dash in March.
"I credit not slowing down to every offseason going back to train and tweak my mechanics," Jackson said. "Year six and year seven it got away from me a bit, but now I am back to my coach. You can't get too content and cocky not to go back to where you started from in the first place."
Jackson has 22 touchdowns of 60 yards or more in his career. That's second best in NFL history, one behind the leader.
That guy is Jerry Rice.
Jackson doesn't catch nearly as many passes as Rice did in his day, but his average per catch is nearly three yards more, with Rice at 14.8 yard per catch in his career. Want more data to back up that amazing 17.7 average? Atlanta's Julio Jones averages 15.5 yards per catch for his career, while Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown is at 12.1.
It's no wonder all anybody talks about with Jackson is his speed, just like I am here, and it's why the Bucs paid him all that money. That reputation, which isn't a bad one, sticks to him, but Jackson said he's more than that.
"I just feel that's there because they just feel my play on the field is only deep plays," he said "I can do more than that. The 60-yard bombs are good, but you can catch an eight-yard pass and turn it into a 70-yard touchdown."
Standing against a wall inside the team's facility wearing street clothes, Jackson didn't look all that fast at the time. But it was more like a fast racehorse standing in the stall, just waiting for the chance to run again.
"We're not going to try to run him deep every play right now," Koetter said. "But he's raring to go, and he's definitely got the juice."
Yep, that No. 1 sure had it Tuesday on the first day of OTAs, and you can bet the No. 11 will have the same come September.
