2020 NFL Draft Prospect – Jalen Reagor, WR TCU

Ray Garvin

Our NFL rookie profile series continues with this analysis of 2020 NFL Draft Prospect Jalen Reagor, WR from TCU. We will continue to provide you with these in-depth rookie profiles and a ton of other fantasy football rookie analysis right up through the NFL Draft. Stay tuned, and stay ahead of your league!

Let’s take another look at one of the most dynamic wide receivers in this year’s draft class, TCU’s Junior, Jalen Reagor. There are multiple ways to score points in fantasy football and Reagor’s unique skill-set has the potential to reward dynasty owners who press the draft button on him for years to come.

The Stats

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Statistics from sports-reference.com.

By now we’ve all seen, read and heard about the offensive situation Reagor had to deal with at TCU in 2019. If you’ve somehow missed the memo, I’ll just keep it very short and say it was bad beyond imagination. But let’s take it back to his freshman season where he showed the promise and upside that had many devy and dynasty owners salivating to acquire him in drafts a year or two ago.

Reagor was originally committed to Oklahoma but switched up his commitment to stay in-state and attend TCU. As a true freshman, he was a big part of the offense from day one. While his 33 receptions ranked fourth on the team, his 576 yards and eight touchdowns led the Horned Frogs team respectively in each category. As you can see, his market share of receiving yards as a true freshman was commendable despite the deficiencies at the quarterback position.

Regor ascension really took flight as a sophomore where he displayed even more versatility and dynamism as a receiver, rusher, and special teams weapon. In football, players who display a diverse skill-set increase their odds and chances of being on the field, thus showcasing their ability which theoretically should yield more opportunity; assuming said player shows well with that opportunity.

His 29% receptions market share, 38% receiving yards market share and and 50% touchdown market share were smash hits. He finished his age-19 campaign with a whopping 44% dominator rating. The arrow and stars were on a rocket ship type trajectory for Reagor going into his junior season.

The 2019 raw numbers from Reagor were underwhelming. His 43 receptions for 611 yards and five touchdowns were all down from his sophomore season. According to PFF, 33% of his passes were deemed uncatchable – by far the highest rate in the 2020 class and one of the highest in the nation. While the offense at TCU didn’t help, there were times where Reagor had his own lapses. Dropped balls and trying to extend plays, were a common theme in 2019. Despite the struggles and offensive ineptitude, he still finished with a 29% dominator rating and led his team in receiving and receiving yards market share data.

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The Film

https://youtu.be/UYpbMwcQOJ0

Let’s take a look at how these aforementioned skills translate to the field.

While he’s not the prototype 50/50 jump-ball wide receiver, his ability to come down with contested catches is arguably up there with some of the best in this class. Because of his outstanding leaping ability and time, Reagor wins more of these catch situations than he probably should.

https://gph.is/g/4oLB89e

I echo the same sentiments on this clip and add in the fact that when the ball is in the air, he is aggressive in his pursuit of securing the catch. You can see he does not wait for the ball to come to him, he goes and gets it.

https://gph.is/g/4VVNywD

He has no problem locating and tracking passes. He has a very good feel for how to position his body and make mid-air adjustments in order to secure deep passes.

https://gph.is/g/4DgV9VP

Reagor is the classic example of a player who plays much faster than his testing speed (although 4.47 seconds isn’t a poor time by any stretch.) His ability to take the top of a defense or take a smoke screen to the house is a big part of his special game-breaking ability.

https://gph.is/g/ZWw2J7v

The Measurables

Reagor checked in at 5’11” and 206 pounds (an 11-pound increase from his listed playing weight). He had two opposing Scouting Combine performances. In the explosion drills, he’s tested phenomenally. His vertical jump of 42” was in the 97th percentile and broad jump of 138” was in the 98th percentile. However, his short-area agility drills were both in the bottom eight percentile which is far less than ideal.

Dynasty Value

Reagor rookie ADP is currently eight overall, only behind Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb for the wide receiver position. According to March dynasty startup, he has an ADP of 59 overall and WR29 in between Christian Kirk and Tyler Lockett.

Conclusion

Reagor is a player whose first-round rookie draft value is rock solid, if anything first-round NFL Draft capital and a premiere landing spot may have some questioning if they should take him as the second wide receiver after CeeDee Lamb.

He definitely has areas of his game he will need to improve on and refine in order to become an alpha for an offense. He has NFL pedigree as his father was a former second-round pick and Super Bowl Champion. Reagor has the mental makeup and competitive fire to be great. His skill-set should yield for immediate playing time day one for an NFL franchise. Dynasty owners who covet wide receivers with a diverse skill-set shouldn’t hesitate to draft him, as he’s arguably the most dynamic wide receiver in this class. My advice: draft Reagor with absolute confidence. I see him having a fantasy impact year one.