Fantasy football player profile: Jalen Reagor

(As fantasy football dives headlong into draft season, some players warrant a little extra attention. All August, Dom Cintorino and Adam Pfeifer will do deep dives into some of the notable names. Follow along with our player profiles series. Today’s profile: Jalen Reagor)

Fantasy football value 2021 – Jalen Reagor

The Eagles selected Reagor as the fourth wideout in the 2020 NFL Draft, coming off the board 21st overall. It is safe to say that Justin Jefferson, Tee Higgins, Brandon Aiyuk and Laviska Shenault — among others — all appear to have brighter futures, but there is still plenty of potential with Reagor. His rookie season wasn’t exactly ideal, as Reagor dealt with injuries, logging just 11 games in year one. Reagor finished the year with 31 catches on 54 targets for 396 yards and one touchdown, while logging 45.2% of the offensive snaps. After suffering a shoulder injury toward the end of training camp, Reagor then suffered a thumb injury just two games into the season, which kept him out Weeks 3-7.

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He did have a decent stretch to end the year where he saw a respectable 27 targets over five games, though the yardage was very disappointing, as Reagor eclipsed 49 yards just twice. Of course, the Eagles offense was a trainwreck for basically the entire season, which didn’t help Reagor, who lined up on the perimeter around 76% of the time. He also wasn’t a full-time player when healthy, as Greg Ward and Travis Fulgham ran more routes than Reagor for the season. And with Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson out for a combined 20 games, it definitely was concerning that Reagor didn’t become more of a focal point of the offense. Now heading into his second season, Reagor will have more competition for targets, as the Eagles drafted DeVonta Smith in the first round, while it also appears Zach Ertz will be back after all. 

Reagor did show that when he gets the ball in his hands, he can make plays. His 5.7 yards after the catch per reception from a season ago ranked 12th among all wide receivers with at least 50 targets. Considering the Eagles are likely to deploy a more quick-hitting passing offense under new head coach Nick Sirianni, that is encouraging for Reagor. Despite having a banged-up offensive line and shaky receiver play, Jalen Hurts led the entire league in average depth of target. As a result, Reagor posted 13.46-yard aDOT, 14th among receivers with at least 50 targets. A new scheme will do wonders for Reagor, while I also expect we see him in the slot much more during his sophomore season. Of course, staying healthy would go a long way, too and while Reagor does make sense as a post-hype sleeper in fantasy, it is fair to wonder just how relevant he can be after he failed to make any noise during a rookie season where he had much less competition for targets. He makes perfect sense as a late-round option at receiver but I don’t see much of a ceiling in this Philadelphia offense.

Fantasy football ADP stock watch – Jalen Reagor

Coming off the board as WR58 per FTN’s ADP tool, Reagor is a perfectly fine target. The issue, however, is that he is being drafted right around a handful of exciting rookie wide receivers, as well as some sophomore wideouts with more upside, such as Henry Ruggs. I do, however, like him more than Russell Gage and T.Y. Hilton because there is still some mystery behind Reagor. Despite the fact he shouldn’t have been drafted before Jefferson last year, Reagor was still very much a first-round talent in the NFL and should flirt with around 100 targets this season. But because the receiver position is so loaded, I’d probably look toward Reagor on teams where I load up on running backs. 

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NFL fantasy football ranking – Jalen Reagor

(Check out Jeff Ratcliffe’s top 100 0.5 PPR rankings.)

Sometimes things just work out. Reagor, who is being drafted as the WR58, currently comes in as the WR58 in FTN’s half PPR receiver rankings. Clearly, that spot seems right for him and while I do question just how high the ceiling really is, the 22-year-old Reagor still has post-hype breakout potential. Don’t forget about him on draft day.