Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Reagor (and I) will be wearing number 18

After a serendipitous series of events, it looks like Jalen Reagor (and yours truly) will be wearing number 18 Philadelphia Eagles jerseys this fall.

It’s official: Jalen Reagor is going to wear the number 18 for the Philadelphia Eagles this fall… and so will I.

Wait, what?

Allow me to explain. On the morning of Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft, I made a prop bet of sorts with my brother while partaking in a social distancing jog: If the Eagles 1. Draft Reagor with the 21st overall pick and 2. He opts to wear the number 18, I will buy his jersey and wear it for every game this fall.

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And by golly, this one in a small percentage chance series of events actually happened – I just wish I would have tweeted something out to flex on it now.

Now if you happen to be a frequent reader of this blog – and if so, thanks! – you’ll know that I’m a massive fan of Reagor and have been for some time. Sure, I wrote draft profiles on other potential first-round picks, as any proper journalist should, but in both his player profile and lone mock draft of the season, I declared the high jumping ex-TCU Horned Frog the perfect fit for the Eagles offense and my preferred pick at 21 overall.

Sidebar: I did write 171 words of a piece on the Eagles selecting Justin Jefferson in the moments before the pick was in, again for journalistic purposes. Thankfully, those words won’t have to see the light of day.

Were some fans, pundits, and for some reason, Chris Simms initially upset with the selection? Sure, as these things so often go, but with the draft now done, I think his selection is still a massive accomplishment, even after adding Marquise Goodwin, John Hightower, and Quez Watkins.

Reagor is an athletic freak who was severely limited in college by bottom-of-the-barrel quarterback play even in his best season. Granted, his 4.47 40 was minorly underwhelming as compared to many people’s expectations, but try finding another 21-year-old who can stack cornerbacks on go routes as well as Reagor, let alone leap into the air and haul in contested passes like a man six inches taller.

Heck, had he opted against returning to his initial college number (18) and avoided a weird number (like 83-85) I probably still would have picked up a jersey eventually, I’m that high on his potential to transform the Eagles’ passing offense in 2020.

Factor in a minor influx of Birthday money from my extended family – thanks by the way – and the decision to gift myself a Reagor jersey will all but certainly make up for all of the ‘May the Fourth be with you’ puns I’ll see clogging up my timeline.

So yeah, as of whenever the jersey arrives I will officially be the proud owner of a Reagor jersey. Could this purchase end up being a mistake? Oh yeah, Reagor is just as likely to be the next Nelson Agholor as he is the next Jeremy Maclin, but when you cover a team for going on four years and something like this happens, you have to celebrate it. Like Birthdays, the offseason is all about hope for the next year, and in my own weird way, this jersey signifies that.

Plus the only other jersey I own is a black Nike Connor Barwin, so it’ll be nice to actually be able to rep a player who, ya know, actually plays for the team.

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And by the way – if you are somehow still reading this – if Jalen Hurts ends up being the Philadelphia Eagles’ full-time starting quarterback in 2020 or 2021, I’ll be buying his jersey too, as his Day 2 drafting was one of the other most exciting events of my time covering the team. Though it probably won’t happen, I may as well put this one out there for future reference should it actually happen – you know, for journalistic purposes of course.

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