Philadelphia Eagles believe in Jalen Reagor
The Philadelphia Eagles selected wide receiver Jalen Reagor with the 21st overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, hoping he could eventually help be the spark their offense desperately needed. Unfortunately, his first two seasons in the league haven’t exactly gone according to plan with the 23-year-old picking up a total of 676 yards and three touchdowns during that time. He also featured in the Eagles’ Wild Card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season as well, muffing two punts and losing one.
However, despite Reagor becoming known for his dropped passes the Eagles still see a lot of potential in the youngster and are not ready to give up on him quite yet.
“He’s just been working consistently hard, man,” said Eagles’ cornerback Darius Slay, via NBC Sports. “Right now, he’s just been grinding.
“We brought A.J. (Brown) in, so A.J.’s teaching him a little bit, too,. So he’s understanding the game more.
“He’s still young. I think Reagor’s only 23 years old and in his third year going into the league and (23) was my second year in the league, so he’s still learning.
“He’s works hard, and we’ve got to get him going. That’s it. We’ve got to all be behind him.”
Reagor does have a lot of work to do though if he is going to ever become the player the Eagles hoped he would be. While he doesn’t even turn 24 until January, he has put himself in some unique company with his first two seasons in the league. He is among only four wide receivers in the last 40 years to start at least 10 games in the NFL each of his first two seasons and finish both with fewer than 400 yards. Not necessarily a record or the kind of company he wants to be associated with going forward.
“He’s explosive,” offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said, via NBC Sports. “That’s one of his biggest assets. He’s an explosive player. He still has that ability to run routes and be fast and strong and physical, and again, we’re just continuing to improve on those things every single day.”
Despite the lack of success in Reagor’s first two seasons, there will not be a whole lot of pressure on him to perform this year from the team’s point of view. While the Eagles would certainly love nothing more than for him to blossom into the player, they hoped he’d be when they drafted him, he is likely to be the fifth wide receiver on the depth chart in 2022 – at the very best. With Philadelphia bringing in the aforementioned A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans, the Eagles have quite a bit of depth at the position. They also have DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Zach Pascal who all slated to line up ahead of Reagor. Having less pressure on him this season could ultimately be a good thing as it will allow him to focus on the things he needs to work on.
Eagles’ fans just want to see their team winning again and would love nothing more than for them to make a deep playoff run. If the franchise can find a way to get Reagor reaching his potential, then there is no reason Philadelphia can’t be a serious threat in the NFC in 2022.
