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Buccaneers: Five Bucs to watch in week nine vs. the Saints

By Sean Eck

NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 24: Mike Evans #13 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes a catch over Sterling Moore #24 of the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 24, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 24: Mike Evans #13 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes a catch over Sterling Moore #24 of the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 24, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 24: DeSean Jackson #11 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers carries the ball in the first half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 24: DeSean Jackson #11 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers carries the ball in the first half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /

DeSean Jackson

In what looks to be a high scoring affair Jackson needs to be able to stretch the defense and be a productive part of the offense. So far Jackson has only tallied 397 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns. This is not the level of play the Buccaneers front office thought they would get for their investment in the speedster. Jackson has yet to catch more than five balls in any contest this season and has only tallied 100 yards receiving once.

All this could change as Jackson gets to go against one of the league’s softer defenses. The Saints are giving up 224.4 yards a game through the air.

With Lattimore likely to shadow Mike Evans this leaves Ken Crawley to cover the speedy Jackson.  Crawley has a single interception on the season, but has seven passes defended to his credit already on the year. With Safety Kenny Vaccaro also having seven passes defended and three interceptions helping on Evans it should leave the middle of the field and deep routes prime for the picking.

Next: Roundtable: Midseason Draft Decision

Jackson has 33 career 100-yard receiving games which are the fourth most by any active player in the NFL. He is only two touchdowns shy of reaching 50 reviving touchdowns for his career.  Jackson has four receiving scores of 80 or more yards and just needs one more to tie the NFL record of five. Also closing on a Jerry rice record, he has 22 touchdowns of 60 or more yards and only needs one to tie rice for the NFL record 23.

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