Eagles News: ESPN categorizes the Jalen Reagor pick as a “head-scratching move”

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2020 NFL draft winners, head-scratching picks from Round 1: Mel Kiper’s recap - ESPN+
Head-scratching moves from Round 1 - The pick: Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU (No. 21). We’ve said all along that this wide receiver class was going to create a plethora of choices for teams. There are big guys, small guys, fast guys, super-fast guys; it’s such a deep group that there was a wide range of opinions about who ranked where around the league. No team had the same top 10. And that’s the same with Reagor, who was my ninth-ranked wideout but was on the Round 1 radar for a few teams, including the Eagles. He is a super talent, but he was hurt by drops in 2018 and poor quarterback play in 2019. If Reagor can put it all together and be more consistent, he could be a good player, but I had Brandon Aiyuk, Michael Pittman Jr., Tee Higgins and Denzel Mims ranked higher.

NFL Draft Results: Eagles select Jalen Reagor with pick No. 21 - BGN
It is nice to see the Eagles finally addressed the wide receiver position after neglecting to give Carson Wentz help in free agency. Hopefully Reagor can live up to his potential. It is also still disappointing that the Eagles came so close to potentially getting CeeDee Lamb only to see him go to the Dallas Cowboys. Reagor feels like a consolation prize in this regard. I’m okay with this pick but I don’t feel like it’s a home run. It’s a boom or bust move for a team that has a really dire receiver situation. If Reagor works out, great! If he doesn’t, the Eagles are potentially back at square one. I preferred Jefferson’s profile because I thought he was a safer bet to be a good pro even if he wasn’t the most ideal fit. I will say, the thought of Reagor and DeSean Jackson on the field at the same time is exciting. One can only hope the Eagles will now be able to generate a lot more big plays than they have with their slow, plodding offense over the past couple seasons.

2020 BGN Draft #11: Eagles Select Jalen Reagor - Live Reaction - BGN Radio
Michael Kist is joined by Shamus Clancy for their live reaction of the Eagles 21st overall selection of TCU WR Jalen Reagor while streaming on Instagram. Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Eagles Add Speedy Playmaker - Iggles Blitz
Reagor is aggressive. Watch the way he attacks the ball in the air. Some receivers wait for it to come to them. Reagor jumps up and extends his arms to get the ball up high. Reagor is a hands-catcher. He doesn’t let the ball get into his body. He is a playmaker. Reagor returned two punts for TDs. He averaged more than 30 yards per KOR in his first couple of years. He averaged more than 13 yards per run in 2018. Put the ball in his hands and he will make plays. Reagor plays with an attitude. He’s 5-11, 206, which is average size. But Reagor plays bigger than that. He has a 42-inch vertical and that shows up in games. He explodes to get the ball up high. The Eagles got a 21-year old receiver who can run and make plays. This is a pick that should make you happy when you think of it in basic terms.

Jalen Reagor 2020 - Iggles Nest
Jalen Reagor is the slot receiver on the left side of the formation. And you can see him manipulate the deep middle safety, Brandon Jones, on a deep route. Reagor flattens his route at the top causing the safety to bite (you can see him begin to stop his downfield momentum), and right as he does Jalen Reagor gets vertical. Jalen should have been off the the races for a walk-in TD but a poorly placed ball from the quarterback (sensing a theme?) results in an interception. Again you can see the traits, the vertical speed and the natural feel for route running. We see him manipulate the safety with his route and use his athleticism to get open clear as day. This play is pretty similar to some of the shot plays the Eagles like to call.

Instant Analysis: TCU’s Jalen Reagor Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles - Frogs O’ War
Reagor finished his career at TCU in the top 10 in every major receiving category, with the second most receiving touchdowns (22) in TCU history. As Melissa mentioned in her breakdown of Reagor’s career, “His performance at the NFL Combine was surprising; anyone who watched him play in college knows he can fly, but his 4.47 40 had scouts scratching their heads in Indy. That led to requests for an at-home “pro day” by several franchises, which showed Reag fly to the tune of a hand-timed 4.22. Frankly, it was more believable than his “slow” times in Indy.” Reagor joins a locker room that definitely needs reinforcements at wide receiver. The aging DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffreys, and J.J. Arcega Whiteside have proven to not be consistent targets for Carson Wentz. Reagor provides the ability to tear the top off a defense, and is flexible enough to play both out wide and in the slot.

Grading the Jalen Reagor pick: Eagles take WR at No. 21. Was it the right call? - The Athletic
As for Jefferson, the Eagles kept harping on the fit. Roseman said there were “a lot of different flavors” at wide receiver and that “it was hard to find outside speed receivers,” which makes it seem like the Eagles were fixated on a type. And that raises my skepticism. If they believe Reagor is a better wide receiver than Jefferson, that’s their prerogative; the scouts and coaches are tasked with making those assessments. It’s not an outlandish position; Sheil rated Reagor ahead of Jefferson. But it better be because they think he’s a better player, or will become a better player, and not because they’re pushing for “fit,” which is the term Roseman used when asked why he chose Reagor over Jefferson. The idea of fit is worrisome because the Eagles need to prioritize upgrading the unit, however that comes: Add good players and find ways to maximize their ability; don’t focus on a player who can fill a certain spot in the offense, because so much changes during a season and over a player’s career. I wonder if part of this decision is a correction from the Eagles’ past emphasis on college production or not enough emphasis on speed.

PFF’s live analysis of the 2020 NFL Draft - PFF
Pick 21: Philadelphia Eagles — WR Jalen Reagor, TCU. The Eagles needed downfield separators at wide receiver like they needed air to breathe. When your running back (Miles Sanders) leads the team in receiving yards on receptions 20 or more yards downfield, it’s time to make a change. There is no question that Reagor has some serious juice to add to this offense, and his limited production can be attributed largely to just how bad the quarterback play was at TCU. Only 61% of his targets were catchable last season. He comes in as PFF’s top deep threat in the class at wide receiver, and he immediately adds a complement to the bigger bodies of Alshon Jeffery, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and Zach Ertz.

Eagles stay put and add an explosive playmaker to the offense in Jalen Reagor - PE.com
“This was a very good receiver draft and there were a lot of different flavors,” Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman said after the pick was made. “Jalen fit what we were looking for. He’s an explosive guy. His ability to contribute as a receiver, as a returner, his ability to be explosive with the ball in his hands were all the things that we were looking for and what Coach (Doug Pederson) and his staff were really trying to stress. We were just trying to find the right fit for our football team.” In the NFL’s first “virtual” draft, the Eagles stayed put at No. 21 overall and waited. And waited. And wondered if the guy they truly wanted, Reagor, would be there when it was their time to get on the clock. He was.

Cowboys 2020 Draft analysis: #Team40Burger is alive and well as Dallas adds elite receiver CeeDee Lamb - Blogging The Boys
You can argue how big of a need wide receiver is with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup both going over 1,000 yards a season ago, but passing on a talent such as Lamb would have been a major mistake. Besides, Prescott proved that he can spread the ball around as Cobb totaled 828 yards himself out of the slot last season. Dane Brugler ranks the Oklahoma product as the ninth best player in the entire 2020 draft class, including the best wide receiver. Brugler says that the newest Dallas Cowboys pass catcher has a “natural feel for creating after the catch”. It is easy to imagine he will be able to do just that with Dak Prescott throwing him the football in Mike McCarthy’s first year on the job.

Why did the Giants draft Andrew Thomas? Giants try to fix offensive line “once and for all” - Big Blue View
“We want to fix this offensive line once and for all.” That was New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman shortly after the team selected offensive tackle Andrew Thomas with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 NF Draft on Thursday night. Gettleman was explaining both why the Giants used their first pick on an offensive tackle, and why they made Thomas the first tackle taken in the draft. When Gettleman became Giants’ general manager at the end of the 2017 season one of the things he was adamant about during his introductory press conference was that the team’s porous offensive line had to be fixed. A number of moves have been made in free agencyand the draft the past two offseasons to address that, but the results have been unsatisfactory.

2020 NFL Draft Grades: What do you think of the selection of Justin Jefferson? - Daily Norseman
With their first selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings made a splash at wide receiver with the selection of LSU standout Justin Jefferson. Jefferson should have an opportunity to contribute right away across from Adam Thielen in the Minnesota offense. The Vikings have plenty of questions on the depth chart at the wide receiver spot, and with as polished as Jefferson is it would be a surprise if he didn’t contribute very early on.

Norris: Best Available For Day 2 - Rotoworld
1. (Original: 12) WR Denzel Mims, Baylor - Might be typecast as a Baylor receiver, but Mims has so many of the details of the receiver position down. He’s sneaky with his contact, using his hands or shoulder to create separation at the top of his routes or on breaks. If the corner closes at the catch point he’s then able to create another sliver of separation - putting him in the position of success. He’s the one who wins the contact battles and maintains his speed. The athleticism easily pops on free releases, acrobatic catches, sideline grabs and with the ball in his hands. While this isn’t Briles-level limited route tree, Mims certainly wasn’t asked to be Stefon Diggs. Still, I’ll bank on his combination of athletic profile, size and willingness to be the one in control of contract.

NFL Draft 2020: Live reactions and analysis for Round 1 picks - SB Nation
Pick 21: Philadelphia Eagles select Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU. It’s widely documented that Reagor suffered from subpar quarterback play during his time at TCU, but to me, there should have still been more flashes of top-end play than we saw. He’s got incredible athleticism and terrific speed but we’ve seen those kinds of athletes fizzle out in the NFL just as easy. Drops may also be an issue for him as well so he’ll have to find the right situation and the right coaching staff to help him out as he adjusts to the NFL and works on his hands. He’ll see his fair share of targets and Carson Wentz is certainly the best quarterback he’ll ever have at his disposal, so it’s all lined up for him to succeed.

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