Former Vikings GM Rick Spielman earned the nickname "Trader Rick" for frequent deals during the NFL Draft.
Jalen Reagor: Can a fresh start with the Vikings save his career?
The 2020 first round pick has been a disappointment so far. The Vikings made a trade for him anyway.
September 1, 2022 at 2:51PM
His replacement, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, is quickly gaining a "Trader Kwesi" nickname for a preseason propensity for swaps.
As I discussed on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast, Adofo-Mensah has now made four trades in the past 10 days: adding QB Nick Mullens, subtracting offensive lineman Jesse Davis, adding defensive lineman Ross Blacklock and — perhaps most significantly — dealing for wide receiver Jalen Reagor on Wednesday.
The Vikings traded a seventh-round pick and what could be as high as a fourth-round pick for Reagor, the No. 21 overall pick in the 2020 draft. That's not a blockbuster, but a middle-round pick suggests the Vikings have more than just depth in mind with the deal.
As such, here are five things to know about Reagor:
- He was billed as an explosive player coming out of TCU, most notably with Pro Football Focus giving him the highest grade in terms of athleticism of any receiver to ever come out of college. But it hasn't translated to the NFL yet, as Reagor's average depth of target was just 9.6 yards last season. He finished with just 299 receiving yards for the Eagles despite playing all 17 games and starting 13 of them.
- Given his lack of production in two years after being a first-round pick, he's been labeled a bust by a lot of people in Philadelphia and beyond. It doesn't help that the Vikings took superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson one pick later. NBC Sports went back recently and looked at all the nice things said about Reagor before the draft and concluded after one glowing pre-draft review, "I don't even recognize the player he described."
- On the plus side, Reagor has kick/punt return ability. He returned a punt for a touchdown as a rookie and has averaged 9.1 yards per punt return in 35 NFL chances. His size (5-11, 197 pounds) and playmaking ability seem like natural fits for that role.
- Reagor should benefit from playing with Kirk Cousins in Kevin O'Connell's offense. If his biggest potential strengths are taking short passes and turning them into big gains, Cousins' No. 1 PFF ranking in the accuracy-plus metric on short passes in 2021 and O'Connell's potential ability to scheme receivers into good matchups could bode well for Reagor.
- More than anything, though, the Vikings seem to be banking on a fresh start being a catalyst for a career turnaround. There is some history suggesting wide receivers take until Year 3 to break out, but Reagor has a long way to go. He brings a needed skill (punt returning) to the team immediately. How much more there is to Reagor's game remains to be seen.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
