Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda: Justin Jefferson at No. 21
Turns out the Eagles wanted a certain type of player for Doug Pederson’s offensive scheme at No. 21 overall in April’s draft, a quick-twitch, dynamic athlete who could stretch the field both horizontally and vertically.
The template is easy to see with Pederson’s mentor Andy Reid, but expecting any rookie to turn into what Tyreek Hill is for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs is a fool’s errand.
That’s not to say Jalen Reagor will not turn into a real difference-maker in Philadelphia at some point but we do know what the measuring-stick will be for years to come and it’s not Hill, an almost untenable bar. It is the player who was picked directly behind Reagor, former LSU star Justin Jefferson.
It’s hard to find any scout, personnel executive, or even draft analyst that thought Reagor was a better receiver than Jefferson and the few who did are either playing contrarian, are employed by the Eagles, or are in the bag for the organization. More so, Jefferson landed in Minnesota with a high-volume passer Kirk Cousins.
Reagor and Jefferson are two very different players and it’s likely Jefferson’s numbers and traffic are going to be far greater than Reagor. That means impact has to be the goal for the latter and that’s the kind of intangible you will need to spin as an organization.
Jefferson is arguably the most complete route runner coming out of college this year and excelled for the best team in college football in the biggest games against the best opponents. Some have labeled him as just a slot receiver and that’s unfair. In fact, in many ways, he projects to be like Vikings star Adam Thielen, a target that can move seamlessly from inside to out and back again.
Jefferson also had a better 40-time than Reagor but that’s on one day under one circumstance and it’s fair to say the Eagles’ first-rounder is the one who looks faster on film.
Hindsight will be the ultimate judge, but the thought here is that the Eagles should be concerned about getting Carson Wentz the best playmakers, not the best from a certain category.
Clearly, this organization was obsessed with adding speed and Howie Roseman carpet-bombed the trait, not only with Reagor but also with trade-pickup Marquise Goodwin and later-round picks John Hightower and Quez Watkins.
Maybe the plan should have been more focused and more targeted. Perhaps signing speed threat Robby Anderson in free agency, the former Temple star whose price went down before a reunion with Matt Rhule in Carolina, coupled with drafting Jefferson.
Remember the Eagles had significant interest in Anderson on the trade market over the past two seasons.
By taking that path, Pederson and his staff would have more clearly defined roles in the receiving corps instead of asking new position coach Aaron Moorehead to go mold raw talent and oh, by the way, do it without an offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COULDA: Finally landed Robby Anderson in free agency.
SHOULDA: Drafted Justin Jefferson at No. 21 overall.
WOULDA: Not overreacted to the perfect storm of issues that overwhelmed the WR position last season and taken a more-tempered approach to fix the issues.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
