Philadelphia Eagles: 2021 is going to be Jalen Reagor’s year

Jalen Reagor has officially been a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for one year, and oh, what a year it has been.

From his initial selection with the 21st overall pick, to having to learn a new scheme sans organized team activities, and, eventually, a thumb ligament tear that cost him five of his first seven games, Reagor’s initial NFL run was underwhelming at worst and incomplete at best.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that Reagor was picked one pick before Justin Jefferson, who cracked 1,400 as the lone bright spot on an underwhelming Minnesota Vikings squad? How could I forget?

It seems you can’t mention Reagor’s name without someone – or tens, dozens, or even hundreds of someones – inevitably bringing up Jefferson and how he was oh so much better as a rookie. If that was the end of it, then it is what it is, as fans will always have an opinion even if some are more informed than others, but when that opinion turns malicious, aggressive, and downright abusive, that’s when things get… shall we say, uncomfortable. After yet another outburst of online vitriol sessions, sparked by an interview with ex-Ringer/current GQ Sports writer Tyler R. Tynes where Jefferson low-key dragged the Birds for passing on him, Reagor decided to shut it down and focus on himself – deleting all of his tweets and putting his IG on private in the process.

But do you know what? Between you and me, I don’t see fans being down on Reagor for too much longer, as something tells me Nick Sirianni is going to unlock the still-only-22-year-old’s game and justify Howie Roseman’s decision to target him Sonny Weaver-style regardless of who else was on the board.

Jalen Reagor can be a featured piece of the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense in 2021.

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The Philadelphia Eagles’ 2020 offense was vanilla.

Actually, that’s not really fair to vanilla, a delicious flavor that is good on its own or paired up with others. No, the Eagles’ offense was boring, rudderless, and so innately broken that Jeffrey Lurie decided it would be easier to fire everyone – sans Howie Roseman and a few others – and start over, instead of trying to fix it with the remnants of his Super Bowl-winning squad.

The team never stuck to a balanced run-pass ratio, seemingly forgot how to effectively work the middle of the field, and were unable to attack opposing defenses deep due to the near-constant pressure generated by the team’s patchwork offensive line.

Was Jalen Reagor able to transcend those issues and remain productive despite the rest of the team’s woes? No, even proud number 18 jersey owners like yours truly will readily admit that Reagor left more than his fair share of plays on the field, but honestly, who was able to remain productive despite the team’s overall issues? Despite only appearing in 11 games – all of which were starts – Reagor still finished out the season with the fourth-most yards on the Eagles, despite averaging less than five targets per game.

Had Reagor been thrown to an average of 7.8125 times a game like Jefferson as a rookie while maintaining the same 57.4 catch percentage and 12.8 yards per reception, he too would have been flirting with a 1,000-yard season and would have looked a whole lot better as the focal point of a vanilla

broken

offense.

But hey, when one door closes, another opens. While it will surely be odd not to see Doug Pederson’s visor-crowned dome roaming the sidelines this fall, those feelings will surely subside once Nick Sirianni’s explosive offensive game starts to light up the scoreboard at the Linc.

You see, Sirianni is what you would call an offensive guru. He came up coaching wide receivers first with the Kansas City Cheifs and then with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, before finally becoming an offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts from 2018-20. If there was a head coaching candidate this cycle who knew how to get the most out of wide receivers with varying skill sets, it’s Sirianni.

That should be good news for Travis Fulgham, as he perfectly fits into the Michael Pittman role that was so effective in Indianapolis last season. It could also be good news JJ Arcega-Whiteside, who is one of the better blocking receivers in the NFC East and could become a viable big slot man a la Zach Pascall. But most of all, it could be a godsend for Montae Reagor’s son, as he can be an absolute force when schemed into advantageous looks.

During his breakout sophomore season at TCU, Reagor was used as a matchup piece across the Horned Frogs’ offense, lining up at the X on one play, the flanker the next, and in the slot after that. He was used as a deep burner, run across the formation on quick slants, and even deployed in the run game on a potent charcuterie board of sweeps, screens, and designed runs.

If you contrast that to Reagors’ junior season, where he was trapped at the X receiver spot to help ease in freshman quarterback Max Duggan and largely struggled to transcend his situation, it’s not hard to see where the Eagles went wrong with their Waxahachie, Texas native wide receiver.

For better or worse, Reagor isn’t the kind of player who can succeed regardless of his situation; he’s a gadget player who needs to be deployed correctly to allow his talents to shine.

To some, that may be looked at as a knock, but it really shouldn’t be. Without a rocket-armed quarterback, DeSean Jackson isn’t an elite playmaker. Without a good running offensive line, Miles Sanders‘ efficiency goes down considerably when you remove his anomalous 70-plus yard runs. Even Carson Wentz, a former MVP favorite, was so shaken by his offensive line’s inefficiency that his entire game fell apart to a near-unprecedented degree.

Could Pederson have found more creative ways to get Reagor involved on offense? Sure, he only had four rushing attempts in 11 games and wasn’t a particularly high-volume target, as previously mentioned, but he still finished out his rookie season with only one drop and the second-most yards of separation per route of any rookie in the league at 3.3.

Give Reagor a full offseason to get his body and mind right, and an extended sted paired up with Jalen Hurts on the Eagles’ first-team offense and watch him blossom into a truly effective offensive weapon.

So if you want to keep screaming into the void about Jalen Reagor being a bust, go right ahead; it’s not like he’s going to see it anyway, but honestly, why bother? If the 22-year-old blows up during his second professional season, do you really want those receipts littered down low, bogging down your timeline? Personally, I’d rather ride high on the Jalen Reagor hype wagon and get proven wrong than have to eat my words when he’s thriving paired up with a head coach who knows how to get the most out of his wide receiver. But hey, maybe that’s just me.