Seth Joyner breaks down the keys to victory for the Eagles in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers.
Jalen Reagor played 52 snaps on Sunday and wasn’t targeted until under 2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs.
He ended the game with just two touches on offense.
Which begs the question: Do the Eagles need to get last year’s first-round pick more involved?
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It’s not an easy question to answer. On its face, the obvious answer is yes. The Eagles used a first-round pick on Reagor last year and he’s playing the second-most snaps of any receiver on the team. Of course he should touch the ball more.
But the Eagles also have to get the ball to DeVonta Smith, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, Kenny Gainwell … you get it.
“I just look at it like any play could be the play, so you just gotta be ready and not get caught up in how many touches you’re getting and stuff like that,” Reagor said. “Just really staying positive.”
Reagor’s two touches on Sunday came in different ways. He took an end around for 12 yards in the first quarter and caught a receiver screen for a nine-yard gain in garbage time. The only other time he touched the ball was a 44-yard kickoff return.
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So that’s actually a pretty productive yield for so few touches.
In the first four weeks of the season it seems pretty clear that Nick Sirianni likes the idea of getting Reagor the ball quickly and allowing him to create. Of his 20 targets this season, 13 have come inside 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, according to ProFootballFocus.
Are those plays that can be in the game plan each week?
“Yes and no,” Sirianni said. “There are some plays like -- it depends on which plays you're talking about. I get what you're saying. So sometimes it's dependent on the defensive line techniques. And sometimes it's dependent on the secondary techniques. And so you can – there are different kinds of variations of that.
“You can't have them all in each week, again, because there's just a lot of different reps. But, yeah, we want to sprinkle creative ways to get him the football because we know he's a creative play maker.”
It’s probably not ideal to have a first-round pick end up being a primarily gadgety type of player in his second season. It would really help if Reagor was able to make plays in the intermediate area and downfield and there are going to be some opportunities there too.
Through four games, Reagor has 14 catches for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. He’s on pace for a 60/493/4 season, which is better than last year but not exactly living up to his first-round status.
But the Eagles have clearly identified the short area as a strength of his.
They just have to keep finding creative ways to get the ball to him in those situations.
“He’s an electric player,” Hurts said. “He definitely has to make his plays and touch the ball and do those things. You see when he gets the ball in his hands what he can do, whether it be on the sweep or screen or man-to-man coverage, getting open, kick return. We got a lot of confidence in J-Reag and excited for him.”
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