The fan’s love/hate relationship with Tarvaris Jackson

The record should speak for itself. In 10 games starting for the Seattle Seahawks, Tarvaris Jackson is 4-6. He has tossed more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (9). His quarterback rating is a mediocre 72.8, for those following at home that puts him at No. 28 in the NFL.
The final straw hit fans Sunday against Washington, when the man we not-so-affectionately refer to as T-Jack, fell flat on his face in the fourth quarter, allowing Seattle to blow a 10-point lead to the less-than-great Washington Redskins, losing 23-17.
The fact of the matter is, Tarvaris Jackson is not very good. So why is he even in Seattle in the first place? Why did Seattle let Matt Hasselbeck walk? The same Matt Hasselbeck who has the 6-5 Tennessee Titans primed to make the AFC playoffs.
Pete Carroll spews his “Win Forever” rhetoric to the fan base so often that fans sometimes buy into it more than necessary. Make no mistake — the Seahawks want to win as many games as they can in the short term. But also make no mistake about the fact that the Seahawks, boasting the third-youngest roster in the NFL, are in full rebuild mode. It would not behoove the rebuilding Seahawks to make a $7-million-a-year commitment to a 35-year old Hasselbeck, stick him behind an offensive line starting two rookies and expect him to somehow defy his recent injury history and make it through a 16-game season.
Enter Tarvaris Jackson. On a 2-year, $4-million-a-year contract he is simply a stop-gap option, and that is what fans need to remember. Jackson is frustrating to watch on the field but a player like that is as good as it will get for Seattle in 2011. Despite the mind-numbingly frustrating decisions he makes sometimes, he gives Seattle a decent shot at being competitive in 2011, while giving the team flexibility to make a change at the quarterback position in the very near future — without the huge financial commitment.
There is little doubt that Jackson is an ideal physical specimen. His arm is as NFL caliber as it gets. His accuracy isn’t even that bad. It’s easy to see why the Minnesota Vikings dipped into the second round to get him. They figured if they could mold him, he would be franchise material. But, therein lays the issue — Jackson can’t be molded. He is a quarterback fit for a system that allows him to sit in the pocket, but when things break down he has no answers.
The Redskins destroyed Jackson when they sent all-out blitzes his way late in the fourth quarter when it was all but certain that Seattle would pass.
This can’t really be held against Jackson. He is a mediocre to average NFL quarterback. So are a ton of other starters that other struggling teams are playing.
But, he is Seattle’s mediocre starting quarterback. Jackson is a likable player and he certainly can’t be faulted for a lack of effort. He’s played through a torn pectoral muscle the last three weeks and has helped lead Seattle to favorable results against the likes of Baltimore and St. Louis.
Love him or hate him. He is the Seahawks quarterback and that won’t change anytime soon.

Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.