The Eagles need a wide receiver. Everyone knows it, but lets talk about it.

In case you forgot, the Eagles’ wide receivers combined for 33 catches and 1 TD in October, 25 catches and 0 TDs in November, and 42 catches and 3 TDs in December. That’s pretty horrendous. Lets add some context.

Catches By Month Eagles WRs Michael Thomas October 33 39 November 25 37 December 42 39

That’s right, there was an extended stretch of time where ONE player outproduced every single receiver on the Eagles roster combined. Thankfully, the Eagles were able to compensate for their lack of WR talent with Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, and Miles Sanders. But the Eagles can’t allow a similar situation to unfold again next season and they’re already in a tricky spot at wide receiver.

Nelson Agholor has joined the Las Vegas Raiders which means the Eagles have a hole at slot receiver.

Alshon Jeffery is recovering from foot surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury. The recovery timeline was reported to be 9 months in December, which would have him returning right as the next season begins. However, the same injury kept Jalen Mills out of action for over a year.

Aside from Alshon Jeffery, who is dealing with the aforementioned injury, what other notable receivers are on the roster?

DeSean Jackson: He looked explosive before a sports hernia injury effectively ended his season in week two. The sports hernia injury is notable moving forward as these injuries tend to affect players after they’ve “recovered”.

Of the 56 NFL players identified, 53 of them were able to return to play (95% return to sport rate) with no significant difference in performance score pre and post-surgery. However, players who had the surgery tended to play in the NFL for fewer seasons (3.8 versus 3.2 years) and fewer games in each season (14 versus 12 games) than players who did not have the surgery.

32.7% of DeSean’s snaps in 2019 and 13.1% of his snaps in 2018 came from the slot. In 2018, DeSean was more effective from the slot. Each of his touchdowns against Washington came from the slot as well.

JJ Arcega-Whiteside: Arcega-Whiteside is still a bit of an unknown but he showed signs of life towards the end of the season. The Eagles clearly view him as an X receiver. His evaluation hasn’t changed much since college. He’s not a fast player, his strengths in college were his advanced releases, quality route running, his ability to play through contact, and his ability to adjust to the ball in the air. We’ll see if a change in coaching benefits him.

Greg Ward: Who would’ve thought we’d be talking about Greg Ward as anything more than training camp fodder? Greg Ward’s play down the stretch was a big reason the Eagles were able to surge into the playoffs. During the stretch of 4 consecutive division games, Greg Ward put up 21 catches on 31 targets (70% comp. when targeted), 209 receiving yards and 1 TD. All of this happened because he was thrust into a “you’re the last man alive” type situation but he did flash legitimate skill. Ward showcased quickness, snappy routes, good hands, and the ability to play through traffic. He probably won’t be the number one wide receiver again but despite that, he should stick on the roster moving forward in the slot (47.4% of his snaps were from the slot in ’19).

So where does that leave the Eagles?

Name 1st 2nd X WR Alshon Jeffery JJ Arcega-Whiteside Z WR DeSean Jackson Slot Greg Ward

On paper, that’s not terrible. Alshon Jeffery still has value, even if he is in decline. DeSean Jackson looked explosive last season, Greg Ward was a revelation at the end of the season, and despite a disappointing rookie season JJ Arcega-Whiteside is still a worthwhile young receiver prospect.

But if you look any deeper than that, things get muddy. It is a risk to enter the season with Alshon and DeSean as your primary receivers without seriously addressing the depth behind them because of their injury histories.

So great, we’ve established what we already knew: the Eagles need a WR. But what kind of WR?

The Eagles had 4 offensive plays go for 50 or more yards in the 2019 season, two passes to DeSean Jackson and two runs from Miles Sanders. DeSean Jackson effectively played one game last season and had the only two explosive passing plays of the season. The Eagles had two passing plays go for 50+ yards all season but the defense allowed eight.

If we lower the threshold to 20 or more yards, the Eagles had 59 plays that resulted in 20 or more yards on offense in 2019, good for 21st in the NFL. Obviously, that’s not good enough. The San Francisco 49ers, the NFC’s representative in the Super Bowl had 79 plays of 20 or more yards.

I think it’s fairly obvious the Eagles need to add an explosive element to their offense. As we all saw, once the Eagles’ only true deep threat got hurt, the offense was um… uninspired.

And sure, there’s more to playing receiver than running fast. We can look at some of the most productive receivers in the NFL and realize that’s true.

2019 WR Reception Leaders – 40 Time 1. Michael Thomas – 4.57

2. DeAndre Hopkins – 4.57

3. Keenan Allen – 4.71*

4. Julian Edelman – 4.52*

5. Julio Jones – 4.34

6. Allen Robinson – 4.60

7. Cooper Kupp – 4.62

8. Robert Woods – 4.51

9. Tyler Boyd – 4.58

10. DJ Moore – 4.42 *Pro Day — Steve Frederick (@_SteveFrederick) February 27, 2020

However, to that I retort: the Eagles do not need a wholesale, bulk WR who thrives on a large volume of targets. The Eagles already have players like Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Alshon Jeffery, and Greg Ward who have shown they can operate in the shallow to intermediate areas of the field and move the chains. We already know that the Eagles can operate an efficient passing game with these players, they did it in 2019.

I also contest that an investment in a deep threat is an investment in the entire offense. A deep threat receiver can give an entire offense space to breathe. Look no further than the DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin Eagles for proof of that.

Additionally, we’ve seen that an explosive offense changes games. How many times did the Kansas City Chiefs comeback to win a game because they’re able to quickly score in bunches? Having the ability to put up points quickly means a game is almost never out of reach. In week one against the Washington Redskins, the Eagles were losing 17-0 but two explosive passing plays turned the tide in favor of the Eagles. This is an element of the offense that absolutely must be considered, especially with the defense’s penchant for surrendering big plays.

If the Eagles don’t add an explosive player and DeSean Jackson gets hurt again (which is a safe bet), the offense will be in the same position it was in 2019, with a lumbering, grinding offense and little room for error.

Barring an unexpected move, my evaluation of the Eagles’ need at receiver is this: they need an explosive player with inside/outside versatility. Agholor’s departure opens up a lot of snaps in the slot but whoever the Eagles draft will also need to be able to provide depth outside at the Z position behind DeSean Jackson and offer some big play insurance.

And all of this is the reason why I want to talk about Jalen Reagor.

That would look refreshing in Midnight Green, huh? It’s been a while since we saw a play like that. There’s not much to this play, it’s just straight traits.

The route is fantastic, he hits the brakes, dips his shoulder back towards the QB, and once the CB (senior bowl player, AJ Green) bites on the fake he throttles upfield and leaves him in the dust. When Reagor goes up for the catch, he has five yards of separation between himself and AJ Green, who was 2nd team all-big 12, a senior bowl participant, combine invitee and is a likely draft pick. And finally, Reagor finishes the play with a catch that looks like it’s straight out of an Odell Beckham Jr. highlight reel.

Lets talk about the catch. Jalen Reagor is tracking the ball at near top speed, jumps, fully rotates his body, and extends to rescue a bad ball from TCU’s quarterback.

If I had to prove Reagor’s worth as a prospect with one play, that would be it. He eats up an NFL caliber CB on the outside with a nasty, full-stop double move and throws down a highlight reel catch outside of his frame.

One thing that I always like to consider with quarterbacks is whether or not they can get value on broken plays. This play is the wide receiver equivalent of that as Jalen Reagor rescued a bad ball that most receivers probably wouldn’t have seriously made an effort to catch.

Straight line speed? Check.

Route running? Check.

Ball skills? Check.

All of those traits fit into any offense, not just the Eagles.

Here’s another quick clip from the same Oklahoma State game as a treat.

TCU’s quarterback play was so bad it’s nearly criminal. Just rewatch that play over, and over again.

Jalen Reagor basically euro-stepped AJ green into oblivion and the QB missed him for what should’ve been a touchdown that made it a one score game. Reagor is so explosive that one false step leaves most defensive backs unable to recover.

Unfortunately this play kind of leaves you hanging because of the bad throw but you can still see some of the route running feel that Reagor has and the explosive athleticism.

But here’s a play that I think illustrates how well Reagor translates to the Eagles offense, specifically as a slot receiver:

Jalen Reagor is the slot receiver on the left side of the formation. And you can see him manipulate the deep middle safety, Brandon Jones, on a deep route. Reagor flattens his route at the top causing the safety to bite (you can see him begin to stop his downfield momentum), and right as he does Jalen Reagor gets vertical. Jalen should have been off the the races for a walk-in TD but a poorly placed ball from the quarterback (sensing a theme?) results in an interception.

Again you can see the traits, the vertical speed and the natural feel for route running. We see him manipulate the safety with his route and use his athleticism to get open clear as day.

This play is pretty similar to some of the shot plays the Eagles like to call. Such as this infamous play:

Doug Pederson and the Eagles love getting speedy receivers on safeties, as they should. It’s been an Eagles hallmark ever since the initial DeSean Jackson era. Get a fast receiver screaming downfield at a safety (who is presumably slower) and just let them run underneath a deep throw.

Jalen Reagor can come in and execute those shot plays for the Eagles tomorrow if necessary. Reagor’s experience in the slot is strangely limited (only 275 snaps in the slot in 3 seasons) but his skill set profiles nicely as a slot receiver. For example:

That should look familiar to Eagles fans. That particular route is one that Wentz has connected on in the past with Ertz, Goedert, and even Sproles. You can see him execute the angle route by slow playing his release, and then exploding into his break.

Jalen Reagor is at the top of the screen. The quarterback missed the throw late but I want you to look at Jalen’s route. He sells the CB on a vertical route, gets hip-to-hip, and then explodes back on his comeback route. Jalen Reagor has fantastic route running traits.

But what I don’t want you to come away thinking is that Jalen Reagor is “just” a big play threat. He was asked to stretch the field at TCU but he flashes skills that indicate he can handle a larger, more diverse work load.

For instance in the above play, he’s working with very limited space in the red-zone. He’s on the boundary side of the field and the play starts on the 7 yard line. This isn’t a play where Jalen Reagor can just “out-run” the defensive back. Instead, you see him hesitate off the line of scrimmage, get the defender off balance, hold his line upfield through contact, and attack the ball in the air.

The best competition Jalen Reagor faced was against Ohio State in 2018 where he put up 7 receptions and 98 yards against a secondary that had 3 NFL cornerbacks (Okudah, Arnette, and Sheffield). He fared better against NFL caliber press coverage than Tee Higgins did in each of his playoff games.

This play by Jalen Reagor is just silly. Damon Arnette is probably going to be a day two pick in the 2020 draft and Reagor beat the press coverage, stacked the corner, and made a one handed grab despite the defender holding his arm.

Here’s another example of Jalen Reagor being more than a deep threat. Here he accelerates upfield and forces the corner to respect a potential vertical route, he reaches the sticks and sells the corner an inside move with a little jab step, and once the corner commits he springs back outside for the first down conversion and quite a bit of separation.

Phew! Look at him work the blind spot.

And that’s just a clip of him simply being a better athlete than the defensive back.

To make an overly long story short, the Eagles need a wide receiver and I think Jalen Reagor is the guy for the job. He shined through a bad quarterback and offensive situation at TCU. If his NFL quarterback can deliver an “on target” pass more than 31% of the time, you’ll see a natural uptick in production. Despite playing in a simple offense with a sequence of mediocre-to-horrendous quarterbacks, Reagor scored 25 total touchdowns in 3 years at TCU and averaged 15.2 yards per catch.

Per @PFF, TCU WR Jalen Reagor had only 30.7% of his passes last season "on target" By comparison, Justin Jefferson had 69%. — Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) March 9, 2020

Here are my complete thoughts on Reagor:

Positives:

+Explosive athleticism with quickness and short area burst

+Very thick frame for a speed WR, strong enough to withstand in-route contact

+Will win foot races and punish DBs for missteps

+Ball tracking, makes spectacular adjustments to the ball

+Catch radius, does not hesitate to fully extend for a catch and he attacks the ball in the air, doesn’t let it come to him

+Route running flashes & traits, runs exceptional double moves, displays the ability to manipulate DBs at route stem, understands how to widen or flatten routes to manipulate DBs

+Seems to understand how to differentiate tempo/pace within a route to keep defenders off balance

+Explosive with the ball

+Return experience, lots of quality punt returns on tape

+NFL ancestry, father is former NFL defensive tackle Montae Reagor

+Track background, state champion long jumper in the state of Texas

Negatives:

-Average size, despite a filled out frame he’s 5’11” which is fine but not outstanding

-Despite flashes, routes will need polish coming from a seemingly simple offense. Lots of scripted plays where Reagor seemed to laze his way through some dummy routes. Should be less of an issue in the NFL.

-Didn’t face a ton of press and his releases are fairly simple at this point, will need to diversify and fine tune in the NFL.

-Not a ton of production on in-breaking, short/intermediate routes so he is a bit of a projection working the middle of the field & in traffic

-Has some drops

-Does appear to be a bit linear, once he hits top speed he’s not going to draw any comparisons to Barry Sanders with his lateral agility. Can make people miss but he’s more of a straight-line speed type.

Put even more simply, I think Reagor has all the tools to become a dynamic NFL wide receiver. And that’s exactly what the Eagles need.