Seahawks should draft Jalen Reagor and make him man for all seasons

The Seattle Seahawks need a third good receiver. They could also use a kick and punt returner. Hence, enter TCU’s Jalen Reagor.

TCU has been a mostly successful college football program over the last decade or so. They are not known for throwing the ball around, though. 2019 was no exception. In fact, TCU kind of stunk when throwing the ball. Ironically, though, the Seahawks need a good third receiver to go with Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf and TCU’s Jalen Reagor might just be the player Seattle needs to take in the 2020 NFL draft.

Reagor offers the Seahawks a lot of different pieces that Seattle needs to find answers for. The days of Lockett being the only productive kick and punt returner should be over. Lockett has proven himself to be too valuable as a receiver. Most kickoffs don’t get returned anyway and punt returns can be dangerous, but it feels that sometimes Lockett is simply back there to catch the ball securely.

Reagor showed in college he can do both, even more as a punt returner. In 2019, his junior year, Reagor returned 15 punts for an average of 20.8 yards per and returned one for a touchdown. He returned just 13 kickoffs total in his three years but did average 24.2 yards a return. He should be able to step in week one for the Seahawks and return kicks and punts.

At the NFL combine, Reagor showed that he is a special athlete. He ran a 4.47 40, only ninth-best among receivers, but still fast enough. His vertical, however, was 42 inches. This was second-best among receivers. His long jump was 11’6″, which was also second. Reagor has the physical skills to be greatly successful.

That Reagor did not put up huge numbers in 2019 with TCU was because of the quarterbacks, not him. TCU threw for 2,444 yards total last year. Reagor had 611 of those yards, which is 25 percent of the team’s production. Of the 15 touchdown passes TCU had in 2019, Reagor had 5 of them. Among TCU wideouts, Reagor had those 5 touchdown receptions and the next closest receiver had 1. Tight end Pro Wells also had 5, but in red zone sets and not as a wideout.

My point in all this is that Reagor, who did have 72 receptions for 1,061 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2018, is potentially, with the right quarterback and help around him, very good. And he is definitely fast enough and versatile enough to help the Seahawks in 2020. Beyond that, he could form a dynamic trio with Lockett and Metcalf for a few years. That is good enough reason for Seattle to draft him in April.