Eagles All-22 Film Review: Is there any hope for Jalen Reagor?

Deep dive on Philadelphia’s disappointing 2020 first-round pick.

Well, this will be an interesting one.

Jalen Reagor will always be remembered for being the player that Howie Roseman selected over Justin Jefferson. Which is not fair but, hey, that’s life. Personally, I wanted Tee Higgins over both, so I guess I got that one right but also horribly wrong because I missed on Jefferson being the elite talent that he is. Full disclosure, I had Reagor as an early 2^nd round pick, but I was not annoyed when the Eagles picked him. There’s no point lying about it, I thought he would fit the offense well despite some concerns I had about him.

I didn’t want to do an article on him, but someone requested it in the comments last week and a lot of people said they would like this on Twitter too. So here we are! After doing this, I am quite glad I did it and I feel slightly different about Reagor after going back and studying him. So, don’t just jump to the comments and tell me he is bad, have a read first and then comment what you think!

This is not just a hit piece. I am not here just to say Reagor has been not very good. Everyone knows this and this is boring. I am going to look at his strengths, weaknesses, how he is used by this staff and whether there is any chance that he can turn it around with the Eagles or with another team.

Stats/Scheme Notes

– 905 (!) snaps this year. 182 from the slot, 608 out wide.

– Total PFF grade of 55.1, ranks 91st out of 94 WRs with 20% snaps.

– Final stats for the season, 17 games, 33 receptions, 299 yards, 2 TDs.

– 2/10 on 20+ throws, 45 yards.

– 6/14 on 10-19 throws, 83 yards, 1 TD.

– 13/20 on 0-9 throws, 94 yards.

– 13/13 behind LOS, 79 yards, 1 TD

More advanced… minimum 20% snaps.

– 0.62 yards per route run, ranking 94 out of 94 eligible WRs. For context, the 93rd was 0.78.

– 4 drops, 10% drop rate.

– 2/11 contested catches, 18.2% rate, ranking 93 out of 94 WRs.

– 59% of targets caught, ranking 77 out of 94 WRs.

– 4.6 YAC per reception, ranking 32 out of 94.

Strengths

+ Although he does not have elite speed, he can stretch the field (especially when not pressed at the line of scrimmage)

+ He has shown the ability to run some really good deep routes such as posts, corners and deep outs.

Sound on for full analysis

Sound on for full analysis

+ He wins in the intermediate area of the field. This is his biggest strength in my opinion.

Slot right

Sound on for full detail…

+ Every so often you can see the ability with the ball in his hands. Has good speed and balance in the open field.

Weaknesses

– Is really poor at coming back to the ball on comeback routes.

– Has way too many nothing routes where he knows he isn’t the first option on the play and just doesn’t show anything.

(far right)

Far left

– He often looks so slow coming out his break and off the line of scrimmage. Takes him too long to get up to speed. He can’t put the brakes on and comeback to the ball without slowing down before he gets to the cornerback, which gives away that he is running a comeback.

Bottom left

– He cannot get off contact at all. Press ruins him. Has some really poor reps against press coverage. He lacks physicality in all aspects of his game.

Bottom left

– Has way too many plays where he clearly does not give it his all when he needs to stretch the field on a concept such as Flood. He needs to get downfield quickly to open up the intermediate route and he frequently doesn’t do it.

I HATE talking about effort but… tell me I’m wrong?

– Too often looks confused or not interested in blocking.

– Drops way too many balls. Does not have very good hands and doesn’t show the ability to win in contested situations

Overall

Jalen Reagor is clearly a player who has talent but has too many clear weaknesses to have developed into a starting calibre player. He struggles with the physicality with the game hugely and this is highlighted in his inability to win contested catches, block effectively and get off contact at the line of scrimmage. I think this is his biggest issue. He showed his rookie season that he can be a deep threat has the ability to run some decent deep routes. He has also flashed the ability to break tackles when receiving the ball in space and pick up yards after the catch.

Something I hate talking about is effort. I think most professionals give it their all and work incredibly hard off the field in areas that we simply cannot see. However, I find it hard to look at Reagor’s film at both college and in the NFL and not conclude that he takes plays off where he is not the main option and does not give it his all on every single play. Whether this is due to fatigue or playing too much or other external factors, I cannot comment. I can only speculate. I do think that unless he sorts out this issue, he will struggle to make a career for himself in this league.

The Future

I do not see a clear sign to any sort of success with the Eagles. The relationship seems troubled based on his lack of effort, and I expect the Eagles to upgrade the receiver position hugely in the offseason. I think he has had his chance and I don’t see enough talent to warrant a 3^rd year starting for the Eagles.

I also think Reagor’s skill set is not helped by Jalen Hurts and the style of offense the Eagles run. I think Reagor should play in the slot more and be used in motion in frequently to avoid contact at the line of scrimmage. The Eagles did not use motion a lot this year and Quez Watkins was favoured in the slot over Reagor. In addition to this, we did not see Reagor targeted in the areas of the field where I think he showed promise in his rookie year due to Hurts not throwing a great deep ball or targeting the middle of the field. We didn’t see a lot of post routes from Reagor. We also didn’t see a lot of targets on screen passes or behind the line of scrimmage to get him going. It seemed like the coaching staff played him because they had to (pressure from above?) but didn’t actually try their best to maximise any skills that he does have.

Do I think there is a slim chance Reagor can become a productive receiver in this league? Yes. But it is very slim. Do I think it will be with the Eagles? No. I think there is an outside chance that with another team and a fresh mindset he can succeed. If you manage to get him in favourable matchups, away from contact and let him run deep more often you might be able to get something out of him.

However, before any team or coaching staff can help Reagor, he needs to help himself. He needs to learn the craft of his position and understand the nuances of what makes good wide receiver great. He also needs to give it his all on every snap and not take plays off. If he can change his mindset and approach the game with a new level of physicality and consistent effort then maybe, just maybe, he will have a chance of doing something for another NFL team. The odds of him ever living up to the cost of a 1^st round pick however, are extremely unlikely.