The Philadelphia Eagles take Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson. Buckle up. We have a lot to discuss.
Well, how many of you had it like this? Grab that loose-leaf paper that you were jotting your prospects’ names on. Delete all of those mock drafts that you’ve saved to your hard drives. Philadelphia Eagles fans everywhere have a lot to discuss. Justin Jefferson was available at the 21st-overall selection like many of us thought he would be, and instead of taking him, Philly went with Jalen Reagor of the TCU Horned Frogs.
Jefferson was selected a few moments later by the Minnesota Vikings at 22.
If you’re scratching your head or if you losing any sleep over the decision, don’t think you’re in the minority. If you’re thinking about the Eagles taking JJ Arcega-Whiteside over D.K. Metcalf in last year’s draft and how that worked out, you’re not alone on that either. This one will be discussed from now until the season begins in 2020.
Here are three immediate reactions, unfiltered and with no additives.
1. Let’s look at some numbers.
Here’s your tale of the tape.
Many had Jefferson ranked higher than Reagor, but is that an accurate assessment? Jefferson was a late bloomer who caught a total of 54 passes in his first two seasons. That resulted in 875 yards and six scores.
That isn’t too shabby, but the reason he got first-round grades after the close of the 2019-2020 season was the role he played in helping the LSU Tigers raise the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy.
In his final season with the “Bayou Bengals”, he tallied 111 snags for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Reagor was a little more consistent for Texas Christian, and he produced some nice numbers of his own.
He racked up 33 catches for 576 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman, another 72 catches for 1,061 yards and nine scores as a sophomore, and 43 receptions for 611 yards and five touchdowns as a junior.
It appears that Reagor’s production outweighs Jefferson’s, but does that make him the right selection for this team? Let’s see what the experts say.
2. Everybody calm down. Let’s get a second opinion.
According to Lance Zierlein’s draft profile of Jefferson on NFL.com, this young man gets a grade of 6.46 which means he will be a starter within his first two seasons. Reagor scored a 6.36 in his draft profile which gives him the same expectation.
It’s probably safe to say that both will see the field early and often as rookies.
Jefferson gets an NFL comparison to Greg Jennings, while Reagor is compared to Curtis Samuel. Jefferson ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash while Reagor ran a 4.47. Jefferson showcased a 37.5-inch vertical. Reagor topped him with a 42-inch vertical.
Jefferson stands at six-foot-one and weighs 202 pounds. Reagor is five-foot-eleven, but he tips the scales at 206 pounds. It’s hard to stop looking at that 42-inch vertical though. It appears that Reagor won’t have any issues with leaping for those jump balls, and after throwing up 17 reps on the bench press, he should be able to fight through press coverage and win in a few 50-50 situations.
The verdict? This Reagor guy is no slouch and had he played anywhere other than TCU, we probably would have mentioned him a lot more last season. Maybe you wanted Jefferson at 21 as a fan. There’s nothing wrong with that if you did, but if you’re an Eagles fan, don’t be disappointed with this selection. There’s just one more thing that needs to be mentioned.
3. J.J. had better make a huge leap in 2020.
Let’s not forget about Mr. Arcega-Whiteside. Much is expected of him in 2020, and all “Birds” fans need to be put on notice. This kid should be fine.
Stop laughing. He will be. Think about something for a second.
The natural response, whenever J.J. is brought up, is to talk about how bad he was and how good Metcalf was. Those of you who are stuck on that need to think about something. He played in a similar offense at Stanford and got worse at it when he turned pro. Why is that?
Can we state that some of that falls at the feet of Carson Walch? If you aren’t aware of something, it needs to be mentioned now. Walch had no idea how to do his job. Did you notice that just about every receiver the Eagles had regressed? It’s easy to talk about what Metcalf did, but here’s what you’re missing.
Had the Eagles taken Metcalf over Arcega-Whiteside, he would have struggled with the Eagles too. Carson Walch was that bad. Where does he work now by the way?
The Eagles have a new wide receivers coach. They’ve added some wisdom to the coaching staff. J.J. will be fine. You all acknowledge that quarterbacks, linemen =, and cornerbacks need coaching. You do realize that receivers need that too right? Expect more from J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in Year 2. People aren’t just hoping that he takes the next step. he has to, and he will, especially with Reagor around to take the pressure off.