By Zack Cimini

Arrogance and cockiness go hand in hand with the elite players in sports. Most can tone it down to keep the view of the audience oblivious to a players actions. Whether its yapping of the mouth to the opposing team, or basic body language. DeSean Jackson has never been one to tone down his talents.

He has high stepped the last ten yards of touchdowns, ran twenty yards sideways inside the five yard line on a punt return touchdown against the Giants, and flipped the football before the end zone against the Cowboys on Monday Night football. Those are just a few of Jackson’s antics that have been just a natural part of his on-the-field demeanor.

At points in a professional athletes career humbling times occur. Last year for the Eagles was an eye opener, as a team and an individual level for DeSean Jackson. Playing as a franchise tagged athlete, Jackson had the type of numbers that would make a team let the athlete walk away. The team seemed to fold as he did, and never had any type of consistency. Jackson has admitted he did not play at his highest levels a year ago. Based on the Eagles play he likely was not the only one.

The Eagles know and the NFL knows that Jackson is a gem of a talent. Still only 25, Jackson seems like he has been in the league much longer. He played in the latter last hooray for Donovan McNabb in which he first became the deep threat people know of today. Against the Cardinals in the 2009 NFC Championship, Jackson made one of the best catches for a touchdown in recent playoff memories.

He has been through the short lived Kevin Kolb era, and now entering his third season with Mike Vick.

Maturity seemed to start to hit Jackson as the Eagles season imploded last year, and he realized his future could be in jeopardy. His contract could have been much higher than what he received in the off-season. Only 18 million of it is guaranteed, which means Jackson is going to have to earn the rest of the mid 50 million dollar contract.

Maybe watching greats just when he was a rookie like Randy Moss, Chad Johnson, and Terrell Owens struggle to find jobs suddenly and fade so quickly awoken him.

Media circles our stating Jackson seems like a new person, and much more focused. Philadelphia has one of the top defenses in the NFL, Mike Vick, and LeSean McCoy. The difference though will be with Jackson. Jackson’s open field speed and ability to get open just creates that extra dimension teams can’t stop.

The focus will always be on Vick because of his history and being the quarterback. In many rankings, Jackson can be found in the late teens and even early twenties. That is much too low for a player of Jackson’s caliber. I expect a breakout year from him, and to be a top ten fantasy receiver this season, and top five in a handful of weeks this year.

He never has been a top fantasy receiver, but has been one of the top open field and speed receivers in the NFL. Sooner or later that should lead to a breakout year, which will be this season.