Philadelphia Eagles: Why hasn’t Jalen Reagor been returning punts?
By David Esser
After his electric punt return TD on Sunday, a common question rang out amongst Philadelphia Eagles fans.
Amidst all the quarterback controversy on Sunday, one very important rookie on the Philadelphia Eagles made a pretty big developmental step. Jalen Reagor – drafted specifically for his speed and explosiveness – returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown. It was just Reagor’s third punt return on the season, and the first one that went for any sort of substantial yardage.
https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/1335735768829095938?s=20
After watching Reagor blow past every single Packer defender, one common question rang out amongst the fanbase: “Where has this been all season long?”
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Reagor saw two punt return opportunities in Week 1 against Washington, and fumbled one of them (which may have honestly led to him being moved off return duties). Obviously his season has been cut in half this year due to a nasty thumb injury, but he still saw five active weeks between Week 1 and this past weekend where he didn’t log a single return.
The Eagles have thrown Reagor back there on occasion, but the ball hasn’t found its way into the rookie’s hands. For the most part however, the constant yo-yoing between Reagor and Greg Ward Jr. has left Reagor with less opportunity than expected.
Outside of his perceived vertical speed advantage, one of the major reasons the Eagles targeted Reagor (over someone like Justin Jefferson) in the first place was due to the potential impact that he could have on special teams. Reagor lit up the return game in college, averaging 20+ yards per punt return with two TDs in his senior season.
Even with Reagor’s drop issues (he’s technically muffed 2/3 of his punts this season), it seems silly to void him of the opportunity for so many weeks. Ward clearly isn’t built like a natural return-man, and Reagor obviously has a knack to create something special once in awhile with the ball in his hands.
Hopefully his touchdown against the Packers sparks the coaching staff to allow him consistent return opportunities moving forward, but there’s no guarantee. The Philadelphia Eagles have been absolutely horrific in terms of helping young players develop this season, and Reagor is no exception. They’ve done very little to get him involved in the passing game, and his lack of a special teams role is just extra touches that he’s missing out on in a somewhat meaningless 2020 season.
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Regardless, his return against Green Bay was definitely one of the few bright spots to an otherwise miserable Eagles season, and it should in theory be something for the rook to build off of moving forward. Whether it’s Jalen Hurts or Carson Wentz throwing him the football this weekend, one can only hope that we see that much anticipated “Jalen Reagor breakout game” sometime in the near future.