Eddie Jackson is unquestionably one of the best players on the Chicago Bears roster. He’s also one of the best safeties in the NFL. He’s proven that with back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns. Yet it seems a lot of the experts were quick to abandon him this offseason. Why? Finding a straight answer has proven difficult. Is it because he didn’t have as many turnovers as 2018? Regardless, he’s found himself down or even off a lot of lists for best safeties in the league.
Apparently that isn’t sitting well with him. Jackson has kept quiet for most of the offseason thus far. That changed when he made an alteration to his Twitter profile. One where a single word is scrawled atop the page.
REVENGE
Then in the bio below his name, he left a simple message: “Coming for everything they say I couldn’t have…I want revenge.” It is evident that Jackson is a man on a mission going into this season and opposing quarterbacks are going to feel his wrath.
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Eddie Jackson has no reason to feel unaccomplished
The thing is it’s not even like Jackson had a bad season in 2019. He had 60 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and two interceptions. This despite playing a lot fewer snaps in deep coverage like he did the year before. Opposing QBs still hated throwing in his direction, posting a miserable 57.6 passer rating while completing just 53.5% of their throws. A big reason for his dip in production was teams just made sure not to throw his way as often.
In 2018, Jackson was targeted 54 times in 14 games. Last season they tried him just 43 times in 16 games. That shows a concerted effort to avoid him at all costs. For obvious reasons. The problem is they may not have much choice in 2020. Not with how revved up the pass rush figures to be with the arrival of Robert Quinn alongside Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks. Jackson will have a prime opportunity to feast.