Draftees the Eagles regret ignoring for Jalen Reagor (other than Jefferson)

[time2rock]

Draftees the Eagles regret ignoring for Jalen Reagor (other than Jefferson)

by Geoffrey Knox

 

 

Put these numbers in your minds for a second: 2021, 21, 22, 31, 88, 396, 1,400, one, and seven. Philadelphia Eagles fans, stat junkies, people who are employed by Pro Football Focus, and the general public that’s been following Jalen Reagor and Justin Jefferson‘s careers for the past two seasons may have already figured out the pattern.

In 2021’s NFL Draft, the Eagles took Jalen Reagor with the 21st-overall selection before the Minnesota Vikings took Jefferson one spot later at 22. During their rookie seasons, Reagor caught 31 passes for 396 yards, and he reached the end zone as a receiver once. Meanwhile, Jefferson was busy hauling in 88 receptions for 1,400 yards en route to a seven-touchdown season.

Justin Jefferson also earned his first Pro Bowl, a Second-team All-Pro Award, and a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie Team. We could stop there, but we’ll continue.

What’s sad is the gap hasn’t lessened between the two in their second season. With each passing week, Jefferson becomes more of a star and Jalen Reagor gets smaller and smaller in his rear-view mirror. One day, hopefully, Reagor will be in Philly’s rear-view as well.

He’s approaching ‘bust’ territory. Some are willing to call him a bust now, but here’s something that we don’t always bring up when we’re dissecting his latest on-field blunder. Justin Jefferson wasn’t the only miss the Eagles had by scribbling his name on a draft card.

Here are three more prospects from that same draft that, no doubt, would have wound up being better players in an Eagles jersey.

Philly could have finally taken that LB in Round 1 over Jalen Reagor.

If you know anything about this Eagles team, you know where this is going, right? The Philadelphia Eagles haven’t taken a linebacker in the first round of any NFL Draft in more than 40 years, when they took Jerry Robinson, ironically with the 21st-overall selection of that year’s selection meeting. Perhaps April of 2020 would have been a great time to have history repeat itself.

You can make the argument that a wide receiver had to be the choice. You’d probably get a ton of people that would agree, but seeing as how Philadelphia ignored the guy they should have taken and grabbed the guy that they shouldn’t have, now would be a great time to look at the career of Patrick Queen.

During his rookie season, he started all 16 regular-season games for the Baltimore Ravens and one of their two playoff games. For his trouble, he tallied 110 tackles, three sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and a defensive touchdown. He also earned a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie Team.

Heck, you can even throw Kenneth Murray’s name in there too! He’s been a nice find for the L.A. Chargers. Both have bright futures. Not only that but both will still be playing when Jalen Reagor’s career is over.

Who cares if he was a second-rounder? He’s better than Jalen Reagor!

Stating that there wasn’t much of the first-round demand for safeties in 2020 would be an understatement. None of the first 32 players that heard their names called played the position. That’s just how things played out. Then came a bit of a mini-run on guys who would help serve as the last line of defense for their respective teams.

Once Day 2 arrived, four of the first 13 prospects who were drafted were safeties. The fourth that was taken, Antoine Winfield Jr. at pick 45, might be the best of the bunch. Now, don’t read what hasn’t been written. Xavier McKinney, Kyle Dugger, Grant Delpit have the potential to be very good for a very long time, but Winfield is truly exceptional. He also has nepotism on his side.

His father played in the NFL for 15 seasons and made it to three Pro Bowls. Junior could be even better. As a rookie, he earned a spot on the PFWA All-Rookie Team. He also helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win a Super Bowl.

Get used to hearing the name Winfield because you’re going to hear it for a long time… again. Maybe the Birds should have gone with him over Jalen Reagor. They sure have wasted a lot of time experimenting with a lot of guys at the position for the past two seasons (and they’ll probably have to draft one in 2022.

And to think… The Eagles could have had Trevon Diggs instead of Jalen Reagor.

Once upon a time, the San Francisco 49ers could have taken Aaron Rodgers with the first-overall selection in the 2005 NFL Draft. They went with Alex Smith. You know how that decision worked out for both teams.

To make matters worse, the Minnesota Vikings could have taken Rodgers at 18. They went with a defensive end instead, Erasmus James. Ever since that day, they’ve, more often than not, had to watch Rodgers discount double-check them as they’ve no doubt thought about what could have been for 12 years and running.

The Eagles’ roster envy that they feel when they look at the Cowboys isn’t quite at that same level, but it stings when you look at CeeDee Lamb in Dallas’ jersey and you marvel at what he’s doing. It also sucks to see that Trevon Diggs, in his second season, has mastered the NFL game.

Like Winfield, Diggs was a second-rounder, so you can argue that selecting them so high would have been a reach at the time, but knowing what we know now, is that accurate?

Was Diggs a second-rounder or was he a clear first-round talent that everyone analyzed incorrectly? Here’s what we all can agree on even if we disagree on the answer to that question.

Dallas has found a top-tier cornerback that they can rely on for ten years. The Eagles missed on Reagor and they’re still looking for that type of young cornerback talent for their own stable. If life came with a reset button and if we could go back and know what we know now, this might be the pick instead of Jalen Reagor for the Eagles at 21 if they still, for whatever reason, were to ignore Justin Jefferson.

At the end of the day, Philly needed a WR. They just didn’t need Jalen Reagor.

Just look at some of these names: Justin Jefferson (even though technically we’re supposed to be naming guys other than him), Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr., Laviska Shenault, K. J. Hamler, and Chase Claypool.

Now, as you know, Higgins, Pittman, Shenault, Hamler, and Claypool were all second-rounders, ao in that respect, we’re right back to where we are with the Winfield and  Diggs arguments. There’s no way that the Eagles should have taken any of those guys that early, right?

Stop for a second, and think about what the Eagles have gotten out of Reagor and what the other guys have given to their respective teams. Who would you rather have on this Eagles team right now? Would you rather have Jalen Reagor or Brandon Aiyuk? Would you rather have Tee Higgins, Chase Claypool, or Jalen Reagor?

That alone settles that. Reagor was clearly the wrong move for Philadelphia. Sadly, they missed a ton of stars by blindly going with him at 21.

Honorable mention: Jonathan Taylor

Sure, the Eagles had Miles Sanders on the roster, but they also had a broken-down Corey Clement. There’s an obvious trepidation with teams when it comes to taking running backs so high, but can you imagine the luxury Jalen Hurts would have had if he could rely on twenty carries from Jonathan Taylor on a week-in and week-out basis?

Tell us you wouldn’t trade Jalen Reagor for Jonathan Taylor right now! That’s right. We didn’t think you’d say no.

https://insidetheiggles.com/2021/12/13/draftees-eagles-regret-jalen-reagor/

[time2rock]

These kinds of pieces of dumb.  You can pretty much do this for any team in a number of drafts.  It is just amplified here because of Howie's poor track record, terrible decision making when it comes to drafting, and just how bad Reagor has been.  

[EaglesAddict]

We could go back to any draft by any team and say this team should have taken player x, etc.  Hindsight is 20/20. 

The 2020 draft was rife with WR talent and the Eagles needed a WR.  It was a good combination of need and BPA...the Eagles simply chose the wrong guy.  But, there's no question they should have taken a WR.  Round 2 in 2020 is another interesting story for playing the "what if" game.  

[time2rock]

26 minutes ago, EaglesAddict said:

We could go back to any draft by any team and say this team should have taken player x, etc.  Hindsight is 20/20. 

The 2020 draft was rife with WR talent and the Eagles needed a WR.  It was a good combination of need and BPA...the Eagles simply chose the wrong guy.  But, there's no question they should have taken a WR.  Round 2 in 2020 is another interesting story for playing the "what if" game.  

Funny thing is, I did have Winfield Jr and Diggs on my wish list (as well as Jefferson) leading up to that draft - all players that would have been major contributors here IMO.  It is Howie's completely flawed approach to drafting (taking a chance on a much lesser prospect only because he offered SPEED) that we often fail to add those players that stand a much better chance to contribute - this extends his entire career and not just for that 2020 draft.