He only came to the Broncos because Bill Walsh watched him play and really liked what he saw; when the Niners couldn’t keep him, Walsh made some calls and Shanahan agreed we could use him.

As a wide receiver he was not successful in the NFL. Shanahan converted him to a tight end in 2005, but the weight gain took time to transition, so the 2005 and 2006 seasons were basically lost, but the team saw him progress.

In 2007 he made the cut even with a very deep group of tight ends, and he makes an acceptable backup for Tony Scheffler, who currently has injury concerns, with his foot the way it is.

For Jackson, the groin is the only injury I can actually remember. From his injury report it looks like he broke an ankle in ’04. The hamstring in ’05 was directly related to the weight gain in becoming a tight end. Since then the only significant injury was the groin pull which put him on IR. That’s not yet, IMO, enough to call them nagging injuries. And he has come on quite well as a tight end. I’m not sure what his special teams statistics are like, but that’s something else that could matter; if he’s considered a good player on special teams, that could enhance his value quite a bit.

I think Shanahan sees some Shannon Sharpe in him; Sharpe had a similar beginning to his career, beginning as a wideout and converting to a tight end, and he’s hoping Jackson will go that same direction.

In any case, Jackson is one of my personal favorites due to his writing on denverbroncos.com and just from being a local kid who went to a college that just isn’t known for producing NFL players (like, any. Ever.), and still managed to find a place in the NFL.