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The Truth about Jalen Reagor

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The Truth About Jalen Reagor

Last night, the NFL draft left somewhat of a bitter taste in my mouth. Initially, I was excited. CeeDee Lamb was dropping, and rumors of Howie Roseman trading for the 16th were in the air. The clock was ticking down… 34, 33, 31. Right when 30 seconds was about to tick, the pick was in. There was no way we didn’t trade up. No way. But as it turns out, the Eagles disappointed me once again. AJ Terrell was chosen by the Atlanta Falcons. The Cowboys were on the clock next.

My only thoughts were,” Please please please don’t take CeeDee Lamb.” Unfortunately the inevitable happened, and the best WR in the draft class is going to Dallas. Not only is he not coming here but he is going to a division rival. The rest of the night I was pretty infuriated. I was never actually mad about picking Jalen Reagor. Since before the draft, I’ve always been higher on Reagor than Jefferson. That wasn’t the problem for me at least. As I have reflected on the pick, I am very happy with it. But we aren’t all the same.

It seems as if Eagles Nation is not only mad that we did not trade up, but also mad because we passed on Justin Jefferson, WR from LSU. A lot of people wanted the #3 ranked WR by many. I mean he was a target for Joe Burrow for a reason, right? Of course, and he is a great player. But he is not made for being the future #1 WR on the Eagles. Jefferson is a slot guy. The last time the Eagles took a slot guy was Nelson Agholor. Now it’s unfair for me to compare the two players, especially with Jefferson potentially already better, but you get the point.

For Jefferson to succeed, he needs someone else around him. In college, his teammate won the Biletnikoff Award, Ja’Marr Chase. It wasn’t him who won, but someone who was the first threat on his team. That’s his role long term wouldn’t fit here. By the looks of it, Alshon is here to stay, which would mean Jefferson would be forced to play on the outside cause Alshon is our one-on-one guy. Even on his one-on-one attempts, he displayed not much strength.

Why Reagor is Better for Philly

Last year 81% of Jefferson’s snaps came from the slot in a spread offense. That means he rarely played against press coverage. Therefore, his athleticism never really translated to the actual game. His outside game is just average for a college player, or subpar for a WR1 in the NFL. But that is what the Eagles need the most. And, that is Jalen Reagor.

If you were ever worried about one-on-one plays with Reagor considering his size – well you shouldn’t. Reagor posted a 42-inch vertical, which was second behind Donavan People-Jones. For some comparison, Dominque Wilkins also has a 42 inch vertical, If that wasn’t enough for you, Reagor also had an 11 foot 6-inch broad jump, once again 2nd to People-Jones by one inch. Both measures above are used for explosive power, which is what deep threats need the most.

But I bet you’re asking yourself this: “But he lacks what all deep threats need the most. Speed. He ran a 4.47 at the combine.” Well, my dear friend, you may be right about the time itself, but he has all the speed we will ever need. In an article by Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports, he used a new software call Slants. Slants is led by Omar Ajmeri, Ali Shah, and Ameen Ajmeri. The three all have a BA (Shah also has an MS in Comp. Sci) and won the best research award at the 2018 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which is sponsored by ESPN. Safe to say, their data is reliable. They tracked Jalen Reagor’s speed, and he tops at around 20.80 MPH on his fastest play. That’s second in the class right behind Henry Ruggs. He has had several long plays and one that may even look familiar

Here are some more nice plays:

You now might be wondering what his actual 40 time is. At the combine, we know he ran a 4.47, but he came in that day at 206 lbs. A month later at an unofficial virtual pro day (thanks to COVID-19), he dropped 9 lbs. back to his original college weight of 197, and ran a 4.22/4.28. Those were the times’ records by the people he tested with. Don’t believe it yet? Do you do it for yourself, and you’ll get around that time.

 

Furthermore, each year at TCU his route tree grew and grew. He still needs to work on it, but he will be a great player for the Philadelphia Eagles, who have an actual QB. You might know – his name is Carson Wentz. But back at TCU, it wasn’t the same. His QB, Max Duggan, did not have a great year. Of all his passes to Reagor, only 31% were deemed accurate (at or near the hands), and 61.4% were deemed catchable (at or in his catch radius). For comparison, out of WRs in this class who has 80+ targets, Reagors QB ranked last for accurate passes. Jefferson, however, ranked first with 69%. For the other stat, out of all college WRs with 80 or more targets, Reagor’s targets ranked 118 out of 120 eligible WRs. PFF even says he had the 3rd highest rate of uncatchable passes thrown to him. Safe to say Wentz is better than that. Keep in mind, he has had 6 different QBs throughout his career at TCU, and you get potentially one of the best WRs of the class.

Point is, he is the WR we want and need. His vertical ability game can only be matched with some of the best. His route running ability is very underrated and will be one of Carson’s favorite weapon. PFF says he is the best deep threat in the entire class. I am happy with this pick, and you should also be happy. Embrace him, cause he is NOT Agholor.

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