NFL Draft 2020 Scouting Report: WR Jalen Reagor, TCU
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2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT MARCH 3, 2020 NFL Draft 2020 Scouting Report: WR Jalen Reagor, TCU *WR grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, Wonderlic test results leaked, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available. *WR-B stands for "Big-WR," a classification we use to separate the more physical, downfield/over-the- top, heavy-red-zone-threat-type WRs. Our WR-S/"Small-WRs" are profiled by our computer more as slot and/or possession-type WRs who are typically less physical and rely more on speed/agility to operate underneath the defense and/or use big speed to get open deep...they are not used as weapons in the red zone as much. I’m torn on how to express my scouting view on Jalen Reagor. It’s a bit complex and conflicting, but here goes the elevator speech/soundbite version… Jalen Reagor is like if Deebo Samuel and Tyreek Hill had a football baby. Excited by that? Wait…you won’t be, not as much as you thought. Reagor is like that Deebo-Tyreek football offspring if he wasn’t as big as Deebo and not as fast Tyreek, nor anywhere near as agile. Confused? Me too. In Reagor you have a prospect where you can ‘see what you want to see’ in him, especially depending upon what tape and what year of play/tape you use. If you look at 2018, you see a smaller, sleeker Reagor who works like a slower/less agile (but still fast and agile) Tyreek. He scatters all over the field taking bubble screens, making catches over the middle, hitting on bombs, making leaping catches, and rushing out of the backfield for 13.1 yards per carry (on 13 carries) that season. He caught 9 TD passes…he rushed for two TDs…he averaged 30.7 yards per kick return (on just 4 KRs). This Tyreek-ish 2018 Reagor had 8 catches, and 222 scrimmage yards (121 rushing), and 2 TDs vs. Oklahoma State. He caught 7 passes for 98 yards against Ohio State, beating up on current top 50 draft prospect CB Damon Arnette and battling toe-to-toe, holding his own with 2019 drafted CB Kendall Sheffield and 2020 top CB prospect Jeff Okudah. 2018 Reagor worked more like poor man’s Tyreek Hill than Deebo Samuel. College Football Metrics| 1 2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT MARCH 3, 2020 In 2019, Reagor added weight/bulk and started playing more like a Deebo Samuel worker over the middle and out of the backfield, etc. Still fast, but a little less about blazing speed and a little more about showing a physical side. His numbers dipped, but he started returning punts more and led the Big 12 in punt return average and was #2 in all the NCAA at 20.8 yards per punt return with one TD. Not a bad season, but a different/slightly down season from 2018. In 2019, Reagor played tougher. Had some nice moments, but also fumbled 6 times losing 3 of them. Making it 10 career fumbles in three seasons…not good. Reagor added more weight/bulk for the Combine and still ran a 4.47 40-time, which is impressive. But he hurt himself with a 4.46 shuttle and 7.31 three-cone…people suspecting the weight gain hurt him in agility. He said ‘the NFL people’ told him he needed to play bigger, so he accommodated…and now they are disappointed that he may have lost agility and a little speed ability. Here’s the thing – Reagor is an elite athlete. Running a 4.47 at 205-pounds is pretty nice. Now consider if he were back to 190 range, where I think he should be – then he might be running in the 4.3s and have everyone all excited. His three-cone may have been more 7.00 +/- as well. It’s not just his speed to discuss…despite getting bigger for the Combine, he still ran fast AND he popped with a 42.0” vertical (sensational) and a 11’6” broad jump (a hair away from best among all WRs). In high school, won the Texas state long jump title. Athletically, ignoring the agility times – Reagor is an ‘A’ athlete, but the agility times have all of us a bit worried. OK, he’s an athlete…but can he play WR? Yes. He’s good. He’s tough as nails and 100% effort…with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. His best plays look as great/nifty as Lamb’s, Jeudy’s, etc., with more breakaway speed moments -- it’s just ESPN (etc.) isn’t in your face with Reagor highlights every two seconds (because they are too busy re-running CeeDee Lamb’s three best plays over and over again). Reagor is a throwaway WR prospect for ‘them’, so he’s not considered a 1st-round talent with the big names today. Should he be a 1st-round consideration? Maybe. He plays more like a shorter, tougher CeeDee Lamb or Jerry Jeudy or Justin Jefferson. He’s in their size range but about two inches shorter. However, Reagor had a much better career than all three in running the ball (jet sweeps, handoffs) and punt/kick returns…AND he had a much higher share of his team’s receptions, rec. yards, and rec. TDs than Lamb- Jeudy-Jefferson in their best seasons. It’s true. Why? Because while this year’s top WRs got to look great with Kyler-Hurts-Tua-Burrow, Reagor played at ‘who cares’ TCU with quarterbacks you’ve never heard of and never will hear of. What’s more impressive…putting up good numbers with franchise NFL QBs, or dominating with terrible QBs and with opposing defenses more focused on you…because you are the team’s known passing threat? At his best (tape) Reagor (to me) is more impressive than Lamb-Jeudy-Jefferson, playing a similar style at a similar/smaller size. Reagor is a more multi-faceted weapon than classic timing pattern pitch & catch College Football Metrics| 2 2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT MARCH 3, 2020 WR, so it’s hard to compare him to CeeDee Lamb, for example. But Raegor’s best, to me, is better than the best I’ve seen of Lamb-Jeudy-Jefferson. …but it’s not perfect. There are concerns. Reagor, especially at the thicker body type, takes away from his explosiveness but does become more physical/dangerous over the middle. Smaller, quicker Reagor might be a ‘B’ or ‘B+’. Bulkier Reagor is more ‘C+’ or ‘B-‘, to my eyes. Reagor is quick, especially straight-line speed. He can really move, especially at 190+ pounds. Reagor is tough and plays with desire/fire. I like a lot about him. But him running typical routes over the middle, trying to beat good corners to spots…it didn’t look like his best game. He runs/cuts well enough but not like ‘wow’. His power is his straight-ahead speed and overall athleticism. I’d rather him stay a speed threat with benefits like a better John Brown or very poor man’s Tyreek, than an undersized Deebo. Either way, Reagor is an NFL talent. He’s a higher-end athlete with a ‘will’ but slightly suspect hands and solid traditional WR ability, but you’d rather have him improvising and beating people with speed. My best explanation of Reagor-- if the Packers drafted him and stuck him across from Davante Adams as a #2 WR on the outside he’d be like a poor man’s Brandin Cooks. But if they put him in the old Randall Cobb slot role and let him play at 190+ pounds instead of 2015…he could be very dangerous working in all the gaps within the defense, running the ball some, and working some catch and go plays with Aaron Rodgers. Reagor can play in the NFL, but the style he or his team chooses is going to change evaluations. It’s not a cut and dried thing. Jalen Reagor, Through the Lens of Our WR Scouting Algorithm: Part of the issue comparing Reagor’s statistical performances with the Lamb-Jeudy-Jefferson is the TCU QB play by comparison. In 2018, Reagor caught 9 TD passes…which is solid, but considering TCU threw 18 TDs all season, Reagor caught 50% of them and that’s nearly double the Lamb-Jeudy-Jefferson share of their offenses. Reagor is the only WR among Lamb-Jeudy-Jefferson to rush for over 100+ yards in a game or ever return a punt for a TD in college. College Football Metrics| 3 2020 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT MARCH 3, 2020 Reagor played in the very bad pass defense league of the Big 12, so we consider his opponents in his output weighting…but the same holds true for CeeDee Lamb – but Lamb got to play in the CFB playoffs two years in a row. NFL Combine Measurements: 5’10.5”/206, 9.5” hands, 31.4” arms 4.47 40-time, 4.46 shuttle, 7.31 three-cone 42” vertical, 11’6” broad, 17 bench press The Historical WR Prospects to Whom Jalen Reagor Most Compares Within Our System: Deebo is a top computer system analysis match, and I understand why…but Deebo carries his ‘bigger’ better than Reagor, to me. However, when you see Deebo is just less than a half an inch taller…maybe, the comp is not so crazy. Most of the WRs on here made it to starting roles and many became surprise leaders for their teams instantly – Deebo, McLaurin, Victor Cruz…D.J.