Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas.
It's early yet and you can't call any rookie a bust in the preseason. But there are some people in the Bucs' organization who are having doubts about second-round choice Dexter Jackson.
The Bucs kind of viewed him as the second coming of Carolina's Steve Smith when they drafted Jackson out of Appalachian State. It's a stretch to compare any rookie to an established Pro Bowl player like Smith.
Off-field stuff aside, Smith might be a once-in-a-lifetime football player. The Panthers lucked out when they drafted Smith in the third round in 2001. George Seifert, whose only contribution to the Panthers turned out to be Smith, saw the undersized Utah product primarily as a return man. Seifert viewed anything Smith could give the Panthers as a receiver would be a big bonus.
A year later, Seifert was gone and John Fox was in place. Fox was the one who decided Smith at least should get a chance to play receiver. Nobody could have anticipated Smith would have turned into the elite player he was. His rise is testament to the fact that you can't always go by a guy's height and weight. In Smith's case his inner-drive and competitiveness more than made up for his short stature.
Maybe, down the road, Jackson will be a similar story. But right now, he's not even close. As a return man, the only thing he's shown is a knack for running straight into the first approaching tackler. Undrafted rookie Clifton Smith has outperformed Jackson as a return man.
As a receiver, Jackson hasn't shown any signs he's ready to be on the field. With Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard and Antonio Bryant clearly ahead of him, Jackson is competing with Michael Clayton and Maurice Stovall, who have some experience, talent and polish as receivers. At best, Jackson is Tampa Bay's sixth best receiver and teams sometimes only carry five.
Jackson's spot on the roster probably isn't in danger because the rule of thumb is you don't cut a second-round pick. But Jackson's not going to get playing time as a receiver any time soon. He might still end up as the return man because of his draft status, but he needs to start using some moves and showing he can be elusive.
Yasinskas joined ESPN.com in January 2008 after covering the Carolina Panthers for The Charlotte Observer for nine seasons. He began his journalism career with The Tampa Tribune in 1990.
