Jalen Reagor 2020 NFL Draft Profile Film Review

The draft won’t take place in Vegas, and there are conflicting reports about whether or not it will be suspended. Regardless, now is as good a time as any to get some more profiles out.

Jalen Reagor – Texas Christian University – 5’11” 206 lbs. – 1/1/99 (21 years old)

Inconsistent quarterback play and the emergence of Taye Barber cut into his workload in his junior season, but Reagor brings an impressive open field ability and glimpses of greatness.

Good long speed and strong initial burst can put corners in a chasing position early.
Got work on sweeps and screens to get the ball in his hands and let him work.
Ability to take well defended screens and burst outside for 10+ yards and a first down.
Worked on kick off and punt returns. Averaged 20.8 yards per punt return his junior year and the touchdown you see below.

Pulls away from the arm tackle of the first defender. Stops on a dime and makes a cut back. Sees the defenders have passed him by and hits the jets.

Reagor works with a high motor. Didn’t matter if the QB would miss him wide open down field (happened too often), he would be back and ready to go the next play.
Will fight the defender for the ball.
Shows nice fakes and snap on his breaks either to get up the field, comebacks, or on slants.
Has shown some talent to utilize his hands to create separation or fight off the defender.
Can get bumped off his route by more physical corners.
Body control to high point the ball and block out defenders.

Still needs to refine some of his work and become more consistent in his routes/timing/point of reception.
While body control is an asset, he seems to struggle locating the ball in the air.
Occasionally trips over his own feet running down the field or trying to make something happen.
He’ll show good body control and hands with nice instincts like the adjustment above, and then, he’ll pull stuff like the examples below.
- May not adjust his route as he should.
- Doesn’t find the ball in time to adjust properly.
Hands are questionable at times. Lets the ball get on him, and the body catch is his preferred method of reception.

This should be an easy TD. The QB messes up by not leading him enough. However, Reagor doesn’t recognize that the safety bit on the other side. He could’ve given his QB extra space by breaking toward the middle of the field more rather than vertically. Reagor also fails to time his run, which doesn’t give him the chance to use his body to stack the defender.

All sorts of things can happen during the scramble drill, fair enough. Reagor is breaking back across the end zone when the QB throws it up. He fails to read the ball correctly on the throw and cuts back toward the pylon again. If he holds his position, he can try to body the corner out, but is out of position instead.

This isn’t the end of the world. It’s a scramble drill and there’s 6 bodies between the throw and the receiver, but it’s just these one offs where he lacks some instincts that are slightly concerning.

While I have my concerns, I don’t want it to ignore that he has a bunch of potential and flashes it regularly. Here is a bit of everything.

He works off the defender at the line with a good juke. Uses his burst to beat him outside to create some space. Gets away with a partial arm bar to create a little space and grabs the ball with one hand on the back end.

I mentioned Taye Barber. I’m not sure he has the size to make the jump early or even be a top prospect at any point, but here’s a flash of what he did in 2019.