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We are officially in the hype season, or as we call it, NFL training camp. This is a time where you will hear plenty of praise for players from coaches, teammates and beat reporters. Maybe it’s a simple as someone slimming down and adding muscle or a receiver got contact lenses finally or last season a player’s shoes were too tight, but now they’re nice and comfy. Whatever the hype, as fantasy players, we hear it as affirmation about a player we like or hollow praise about a player we don’t like.
Throughout camp we’ll keep an eye out for the hyped player of the day and see if the praise is something we should take notice of or disregard. For today, that player is Eagles wide receiver Jalen Reagor.
Nobody doubted Reagor’s upside in the NFL, but after a down 2019, questions did arise and grabbing him in the first round was derided by some critics. But, sometimes you need to swing for the fences and this pick was a big home run cut.
So far, the ball has a nice trajectory and could get out of the park quickly. Reagor has stood out in camp consistently, showing that he more than belongs with the starters his rookie year.
The hype
“If you were an alien and you landed on the Eagles' practice field, having no idea who anybody was, you could pretty easily identify [Jalen] Reagor as having superior physical ability above the other players on the field....
— Pat Thorman (@Pat_Thorman) August 24, 2020
Reagor is going to start from Day 1.” https://t.co/QDfOfXAzli
Carson Wentz on #Eagles rookie WR Jalen Reagor:
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) August 23, 2020
“Just the way that Jalen — his combination of speed and power — and just watching tape of Julio (Jones), I see some similarities in how they run routes.”
Via @Jeff_McLane https://t.co/4aobbvclcY
Jalen Mills says Jalen Reagor has been the Eagles’ most impressive young WR so far. He calls him “JR.” Specifically praised Reagor’s willingness to make catches over the middle. pic.twitter.com/hu4WF420GS
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) August 20, 2020
Is the hype real?
Yes. Reagor is an NFL caliber receiver who is almost assured a starting job after being selected 21st overall and shining in training camp. He has outstanding speed while also being able to catch passes in traffic. The hype from beat reporters is likely exaggerated, as he is still a rookie, but the Eagles and Carson Wentz can pass the ball and other than Zach Ertz, there are no receivers set to see 100 targets.
Is the hype too much?
It could be. Last season no Eagles’ wide receiver had more than Alshon Jeffery’s 73 targets, but Zach Ertz had 134 and Dallas Goedert had 87. The Eagles ranked eighth in overall pass attempts with 613, so the ball is going to be thrown, but will the targets be there for Reagor?
The Eagles sorely missed a deep threat to spread out defenses after DeSean Jackson was injured in Week 1, but Jackson is back this season. Jackson is likely Reagor’s toughest competition for targets depending how well he holds up. Alshon Jeffery has yet to practice and the UDFA Greg Ward has been getting starter’s snaps in camp. There is room for targets in this offense, but we can’t be assured Reagor won’t be the odd man out with Ertz, Goedert and Jackson leading the way early on. The good news is that Regor has shown enough during camp to feel good about him winning more targets throughout the season.