Ted Ginn vs DeSean Jackson

Let me apologize in advance for the length of this post. Stick with me on this.

Like every other Dolphin fan in the world, I've run out of patience with Ted Ginn. After watching the Monday night game and seeing DeSean Jackson make two huge plays, I realized just how good that type of player could be--what Ginn should be for the Dolphins.

Jackson and Ginn are similar in measurables. Jackson is listed at 5' 10" 175 lbs, while Ginn is listed at 5' 11" 180 lbs. According to the numbers I dug up, Jackson ran a 4.35 40 at the Combine and Ginn ran a 4.37 (though I've seen some unofficial Ginn times that are faster than that). You couldn't find two players that are more similar in their frame and speed. Stacking Jackson and Ginn next to each other seems to be a perfect comparison.

We all know Ginn is not a true #1 wide receiver, and neither is Jackson. Yet, Jackson is putting up numbers and making important plays for his team all the time. Both of these guys should be WRs that their teams can count on for a couple deep shots per game and some electrifying runs and returns on occassion. The teams aren't (or shouldn't) expect 9-catch, 140-yard games from these guys on a routine basis. These guys, at least in my opinion, are simply the game-breaking type who will make one or two plays each game that have the chance to be huge plays, possibly resulting in a TD or momentum-shifting outcome. With the exception of Steve Smith of Carolina, guys of this size aren't traditionally going to pile up huge WR stats. Their contributions come in other ways, in quick bursts and field-stretching shots when the time is right.

Philly obviously seems to have the better player in Jackson, though given their similar size and speed, there's no reason Ginn shouldn't be doing the things Jackson has done in his short career. The difference? We all know the answer to that: Jackson can catch, Ginn cannot. Jackson has swagger, attitude and toughness, Ginn has none of those things. Jackson thinks he can take it to the house each time he touches the ball. Ginn looks for the quickest route to the sideline or crumples up on the field when he gets the ball.

Let's look at the career and season stats to compare the contributions of each player. Remember also that Jackson was a rookie last year, so when looking at career numbers remember Ginn has been in the NFL for 16 more games than Jackson.

Career (Receptions/Yards/Average/TDs):
Ginn: 108 / 1421 / 13.2 / 5       Jackson: 83 / 1335 / 16.1 / 5

Career (Rush attempts/Yards/Avg/TDs):
Ginn: 13 / 112 / 8.6 / 2       Jackson: 24 / 211 / 8.8 / 2

Season (Rec/Yd/Avg/TD):
Ginn: 18 / 211 / 11.7 / 1        Jackson: 21 / 423 / 20.1 / 3

Looking at these numbers, it becomes very clear that Jackson is providing much more with the opportunities he has. In one season less of play, he has as many TDs and only 100 fewer yards than Ginn. Also, every one of Jackson's five TDs this season has been 50 yards or longer. Again, that's the playmaker, deep threat factor. That's what he does. He's not getting jump balls from the five yard line. Perhaps the most important stat, however, is drops. This season, Jackson has 2 drops out of 46 targets (dropping 4.3% of passes thrown his way). Ginn has 5 drops on 40 targets (dropping 12.5% of passes thrown his way). That is a a substantial difference, especially if you start to prorate that out to 16 games. Plus, those are official drops, but everyone who has watched the Dolphins all season long knows he has dropped a lot more than five balls. I haven't seen every snap of the Eagles season, but I doubt Jackson is letting the ball slip away as often as Ginn has. Jackson is gaining in confidence every week and his teammates are more and more confident in his ability to make game-breaking plays. Ginn? Well, we can imagine what his confidence is like right now, and it's hard to believe that Henne is confident that Ginn will make the catch and turn it into a big play at any time. And the reaction of the defense (notably Porter) on the sidelines when Ginn dropped that ball against the Saints says it all. The whole team seems to expect him to drop the ball when it comes his way.

The reason I'm posting this is to simply get a side-by-side look at two players cut from the same cloth with similar size and skills to see what is possible with that type of player. Jackson just seems to get better and better and he makes big plays. McNabb can count on him. Last night after the game he even said that with DeSean he just needs to make sure he gets the ball to him so he can use his speed and make plays like he does. Even when he only records 2 or 3 catches per game, he makes a difference and is always a threat to go all the way. Ginn just doesn't possess the intangibles, and is struggling with the tangibles. He doesn't play with the same attitude, swagger and toughness that we see from Jackson. Instead of being a guy who will make a catch and blaze his way to serious yards after catch, he is dropping the ball, not fighting for the ball, getting tackled after the first finger is laid on him, and running to the sideline or into pile of people instead of showing real instincts and finding paths to the endzone, or at least additional yardage. (That end-around run against the Bills is a good example. He made a great play and picked up great yardage, but he clearly missed an opportunity to turn it to the outside and out-run the safety for what could have been a touchdown. Instead he turned it inside following one blocker--who didn't even have a block or path cleared out if I remember--into two defenders and went down. I think a more instinctive player with his speed finds a way to get a better angle and out-run the one defender who had a shot at him down the sideline. But he made it easy for the defense by running into their angle instead of taking it away, and was quickly brought down by two Bills. Also, it seems like on kick offs he's always running into guys instead of finding alternate lanes where he can get open and reach top speed. Some of that is blocking, yes, but some of it has to be Ginn's vision and instincts. At some point you'd think he could break one.)

I would like to think that with a true #1 Ginn would be a great compliment who would simply be asked to get deep a couple times a game to take a shot, and maybe get a few good rushes and returns out of him while the rest of the WR core does the heavy lifting in the passing game. Unfortunately, it's doubtful that he could even thrive in that role because he doesn't catch the ball when he gets the chance and doesn't show the ability or instincts to really make the play. I would love to see Ginn thrive in that role if/when the Fins get a #1 WR, but I just don't think he'll be able to do it, even then. Ted Ginn truly is Dead Ginn, at least as a Dolphin.