Week 4 QB projections   •  SEA Stats

QB Tarvaris Jackson, Seattle Seahawks

HT: 6-2, WT: 225, Born: 4-21-1983, College: Alabama State, Drafted: Round 2

2011 Projections

Best Case

The Seahawks thought enough of Jackson, a free agent this offseason, to sign him and name him the starter. (Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell had worked with Jackson in Minnesota.) While inconsistent in his limited playing time for the Vikings, Jackson did make some good things happen when he could be patient in the pocket and not have to force things. Jackson will have WR Sidney Rice to throw to, his former teammate in Minnesota, and a new target in TE Zach Miller (formerly with the Raiders) as well. Jackson has decent running ability: a big plus in many fantasy scoring systems. If he can retain the starting job all season, he is the perfect type of QB to make part of a fantasy QBBC, starting against weaker opponents and being subbed against stronger ones.

Worst Case

The Seahawks brought in Charlie Whitehurst in 2010, with an eye toward developing him into their quarterback of the future. If Jackson falters, he could have a short leash, getting the hook for Whitehurst, who showed some potential late last season. Job security, therefore, is probably an even bigger issue than Jackson's relative lack of experience.

Outlook

Jackson has some sleeper potential as a fantasy QB due to head coach Pete Carroll's offensive acumen, Jackson's arm strength and running ability, and a few new weapons to work with in Seattle. But Jackson proved inconsistent in his time with the Vikings, and his job security in Seattle is not rock solid. So do consider him a sleeper rather than a fantasy QB you can rely on.

Why he is a good deep sleeper pick

David Dodds - Possibly the biggest winner of free agency was Tarvaris Jackson. He left a situation where he was buried on the depth chart and lands in Seattle where he has been named the starting QB. The Seahawks loaded up with weapons adding WR Sidney Rice and TE Zach Miller to go with WR Mike Williams' breakout season a year ago. This team is on the rise. Could Jackson be the missing piece the team needs?

Clayton Gray - Of course I realize Jackson has a nice history of failing to produce, but I'm putting my faith in Darrell Bevell and Sidney Rice. Those two guys are pretty good at what they do and want to tie themselves to Tarvaris Jackson. Bevell and the Seahawks could have had any of about a dozen available quarterbacks and quickly went after Jackson in free agency. Then Rice, who has spent his entire career with Jackson, willing went to Seattle, where Jackson was already tabbed the starting quarterback. Maybe Bevell and Rice already know what Pete Carroll believes: the Vikings simply "jerked around" Tarvaris Jackson.

2011 Schedule

2011 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Jackson's performance could be considered mixed at best. While he did throw two touchdowns -- the first of which he exhibited nice patience waiting for two receivers to clear and a delayed slant route to develop -- he looked rattled after some early 49ers pressure. His accuracy was questionable at best, and for quarterback considered to be mobile, he didn't throw the ball well on the run. The Seahawks were behind in this game the whole time -- forcing Jackson to throw 37 times. They'll never win games in that fashion. While some might say that the two Ted Ginn Jr. return TDs made this game appear to be more of a blowout than it was, it could also be argued that San Francisco's extremely poor red zone offense and use of good field position had it closer than it ever should have been before Ginn struck. While he showed some accuracy at times, it was almost always on short routes that any NFL QB could complete. Jackson still has a lot of work to do. His offensive line didn't do him many favors though in this one.

Week 2 - Perhaps the most surprising thing about Jackson's day was the final zero in his statline (no interceptions). That is not, however, an accurate portrayal of his effectiveness of accuracy. Despite going 20/29, it seems as if Jackson still wasn't capable of making quality throws. Most of the offense was short, safe throws for him. On the few occasions he threw more than 10 yards downfield, he wasn't on point -- a notable exception being a nice high throw to Ben Obomanu about 13 yards downfield that went through Obomanu's hands. Seattle didn't cross midfield until there was 9:23 left in the game so it's hard to say that catch would have made a huge difference, but perhaps it could have helped Jackson's confidence. The Seattle coaching staff has no inclination to attack deep. Either it's Jackson's inability to attack, their offensive line's inability to block long enough, or their receivers' lack of skill set to get open deep, they just don't even try it. Two games in, and Seattle hasn't really mixed in a deep throw. Perhaps they're waiting on Sidney Rice to return, but they're offense is inept until they at least try. Jackson has averaged 5.3 and 5.5 yards per attempt in his two games.

Week 3 - Jackson was buoyed by the return of Sidney Rice, who he targeted often, but still displayed too many flaws in his game to be more than merely adequate. Jackson holds on to the ball too long, which led to four sacks in this game, and seems unable to spread the ball around (notable is his one (ONE) pass to Mike Williams on the day. Clearly his rapport with Rice is strong, as evidenced by how much he leaned on him while running the no huddle offense in the final minutes of the first half. After halftime Jackson began to spread the ball around, which included a nifty sideline completion to Rice. If he can do that with regularity, then this offense may have a chance to thrive. Jackson ran the ball in himself for the score, showing a real nose for the end zone -- he made a great effort to gain a few more yards when he could have gone down easily after the first down. His mistakes were few: His interception was off of a Hail Mary to end the first half; and in the final quarter, he got lucky with a bad fumble that easily could have been a defensive TD.

Week 4 - Jackson finally delivered the breakthrough (if not breakout) performance that the Seahawks were waiting for. He demonstrated that he can spread the ball around the field successfully, rather than over-relying on Sidney Rice. And guess what -- it worked. Jackson got stronger as the game went on, despite the fact that Rice was effectively shut down late in the game. The two interceptions weren't his fault -- one was a good throw that was tipped, and the other would have been a touchdown if TE Zach Miller could have held on to the ball. Make no mistake, Jackson still keyed on Rice when he needed him. He found Rice in a big way on a perfect 52-yard bomb as he had the defense beat for the touchdown. He also found Mike Williams; only 3 times, but he made them count. First for a key 3rd down conversion at the sideline, then he threw a dart to him in the end zone that was caught with ease. Jackson later in the red zone used a pump-fake to perfection to draw the coverage away from the end zone corner, then laid in a nice easy one for Obomanu, who was all of a sudden wide open. The last key to this puzzle was the emergence of WR Doug Baldwin, who earned more trust from his QB as the game wore on. Jackson had a lot of success running the no huddle offense in the second half, and came very close to mounting a comeback from a 27-7 deficit. As he attempted the comeback, we saw a strong, mobile quarterback who knew when to leave the pocket, and when to hang in there and take a hit in order to make the completion. There was no real weakness to his game -- take back those two interceptions and he wins this one for the Seahaawks.