In the very first professional football game Jalen Reagor played, he caught a 55-yard pass. It was third and 22. Reagor sprinted down the field, found Carson Wentz’s pass in the air and made an impressive catch. He finished the game with just that one catch, but it was his very first game. It was what the team and its fans were hoping for. The Eagles drafted him 21st overall.
Jalen Reagor has now played 23 football games as a pro. The most yards he has had in a game is still 55. That 55-yard catch is his high-water mark as a receiver. This season, he has two games where he's had negative receiving yards.
The Eagles lost to the Giants today, 13-7. They did not play well on offense. Jalen Hurts completed just 14 of his 31 passes and threw three interceptions. It was a hideous game; it was classic NFC East football. Reagor led all Eagles receivers with seven targets; he caught two of them for 31 yards. He also had two incredible drops on the last drive.
To me, this is pass interference. I also am writing this from inside the 135 square miles of the city of Philadelphia, so perhaps I am a bit biased. But, also, yeah, he dropped this one because the ball hit him in the helmet.
But, whatever. The second drop, which ended the Eagles’ chances, was the really bad one. Seriously. Just wait until you see this.
Jalen Hurts did it! He gave the Eagles a chance for a ridiculous comeback win on the road against the New York Giants, something done by Eagles quarterbacks great and mediocre over the years. And Reagor let the ball go right through his hands. Did he jump too soon?
It doesn’t really matter what fans think, but Reagor is never going to live this down. Heck, Nelson Agholor caught nine passes for 84 yards in the greatest Super Bowl of all time and he will never live down a single drop. Jalen Reagor is basically only known for dropping passes.
The Eagles have had a lot of guys who are known for dropping passes this millennium. James Thrash dropped a pass that led to a crucial interception in an NFC title game. The Associated Press once ran a story about Todd Pinkston headlined “Pinkston’s non-catches have irritated fans.” J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, a second-round pick in 2019, dropped a potential game-winner that year. That same year, Agholor became so well known for drops that a dude just randomly made fun of him on the news. At least Hank Baskett’s most famous muff came in a Colts uniform. Reagor is the Eagles’ new King of Drops.
There’s another new thing for Eagles fans, too. As you may have heard, the Eagles took Reagor over Justin Jefferson. Previously, the player fans whined about the Eagles passing on was Ed Reed. Honestly, it’s kind of nice to have someone new.
