On the night of April 23, 2020, the Philadelphia Eagles entered the NFL Draft with the 21st pick in the first round. Going into the night, it was clear that the Eagles needed to select a wide receiver with their first-round pick.

On the board, you had the three big name guys in Cee Dee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, and Henry Ruggs. Following close behind were Jalen Reagor and Justin Jefferson. The Eagles were close to landing Cee Dee Lamb until the Cowboys took him as a luxury pick at 17.

The question then became “Justin Jefferson or Jalen Reagor?”. 

Leading up to the draft, the Eagles were heavily linked to LSU star receiver Justin Jefferson. Many Eagles fans were concerned however that Jefferson could only play in the slot. Yes, Jefferson can play in the slot, but he can play outside as well. The problem for him was that LSU’s wide receiver group was stacked last year with Terrace Marshall, and likely top ten pick next year J’Marr Chase. This basically forced Jefferson to play in the slot. 

Jefferson balled out in his final season with the Tigers against big-name schools and became one of Joe Burrow’s favorite targets. He ended with 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns.  

The Eagles passed on Jefferson to take Jalen Reagor from TCU. While it was clear that they needed a wide receiver, the Eagles wanted one with elite speed. If you’re going purely off of speed Reagor is clearly faster than Jefferson. Comparing their final college season stats, Jefferson is obviously going to have the advantage but you have to remember that he had the first pick in this year’s draft throwing him the ball. Reagor on the other hand had some of the worst quarterback play in the league. Scouts say that his QB was “The worst QB in college football”. Here’s a chart that shows the percentage of accurate passes thrown their way.

Jalen Reagor at the bottom, with a horrific 31%.

In his three years at TCU, Reagor had 8 different QB’s throwing him the ball. Yes, not one, not two, not three, eight different quarterbacks. In his final year at TCU, Reagor had 1,061 yards and nine touchdowns.

Seven Months Later…

It has been seven months since the NFL Draft and the Eagles seem to be hit with bad draft luck yet again. While we were already watching D.K. Metcalf develop into one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, Justin Jefferson has shown that he will be a special receiver. Jefferson has 42 catches for 762 yards and three touchdowns in nine games for the Vikings.

Jalen Reagor on the other hand has only played four games so far because of a thumb injury. In his four games played, Reagor has 12 catches for 159 yards and one touchdown.

As every week goes by, I see hundreds of Eagles fans on the timeline talking about how Howie Roseman missed another pick again, and Jalen Reagor stinks. This is simply not the case. Like I said above Jalen Reagor has been hurt, and has not had enough playing time in the NFL. It also doesn’t help that Doug Pederson and the “offensive minds” can’t find a way to put the ball in his hands. In most of his catches so far, Reagor has shown his explosiveness and how talented he is. Last Sunday against the Giants, Reagor caught four passes for 47 yards.

The Eagles have plenty of problems to solve and Reagor should be one of the easier ones. 

Jalen Reagor responded to a question following another great performance by Justin Jefferson comparing the two. Reagor is a class act, and said nothing but the truth.

The Reagor hate just needs to stop plain and simple. At least give the man a full season before you start saying he is a bust and even by then, his stats will show otherwise. He has literally only played in four games with a terribly coached offense. Sure Carson Wentz hasn’t been great either but just like Reagor, they aren’t putting him in a place to succeed. Who’s to even say that Justin Jefferson wouldn’t even be used the right way here?

If the Eagles want to have any chance at making the playoffs, they need to get creative with Jalen Reagor. It’s embarrassing to even say by week 10 that a Super Bowl Winning head coach doesn’t know how to put his players in a position to succeed, but that’s a different story for another time.

Lay low and keep quiet like libraries. Give Reagor time and he’ll be just fine.

Mandatory Credit: Philadlephia Eagles