Did Doug Pederson Raise a Red Flag with Jalen Reagor?

There’s not a lot to dislike about Doug Pederson as an NFL coach.

You’ve got 42 wins in four seasons with four of those in the playoffs, three consecutive postseason berths and counting, and of course a Super Bowl LII championship, the first in franchise history.

If you are the glass-is-half-empty type, however, you might want to focus on the receiver position which was an abject disaster in 2019 and really uneven since Pederson returned to Philadelphia as the head coach before the 2016 season.

Maybe the struggles are best exemplified by the revolving door at WR coach with Aaron Moorehead being the latest in a one-and-done approach that has eaten up everyone not named Mike Groh.

The troubling inability to get young receivers up to speed quickly in the modern environment might be rearing its ugly head again judging by Pederson’s comments earlier this week when it came to Jalen Reagor, the team’s first-round pick, selected 21st overall back in April.

Spun as a playmaker who can stretch the field horizontally as well as vertically with his explosive 4,4 speed, Reagor has been started off slowly in the COVID-19-fueled virtual offseason, according to Pederson.

“Right now, he's going to come in and he's going to learn one position and he is going to learn from DeSean Jackson and learn everything he can,” Pederson said during a Zoom conference call on Tuesday.

The same tact was taken with 2019 second-round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who seemed to have trouble learning the offense as the Eagles started him off at the X position before starting to cross-train.

Even a veteran trade pickup like Golden Tate seemed to have trouble learning the offense back in 2018 despite his reputation as a savvy receiver.

If you rewind to the controversial Josina Anderson-reported criticisms surrounding Carson Wentz last season, often lost in the weeds was another charge, that the offense was too complex.

"'We need to make (stuff) simpler,” the anonymous source most believe was Alshon Jeffery said. "Sometimes we need to just handle what is manageable."

Pederson balked when SI.com asked him about that and if his offense is too complex.

"I'm not a smart guy and I can figure out the offense," the coach joked. "It's not that complicated. Listen, it's a tough sport. I've gotta have the right play. Hopefully at the right time against the right defense. I'm asking 11 guys to execute that play and we trust those guys to make the right decisions.

"If there is complexity in that - yeah, there's complexity in that because you're going against 11 guys that are really, really good, and trying to execute that one play."

When it comes to Reagor, however, Pederson is again taking things slowly by starting him out at the Z position behind Jackson and hoping to expand things from there.

"Obviously the playbook is extensive and we just have to see what he's taken from the offseason to training camp, and then once we see his potential and his growth, then we can use him in multiple spots,” said Pederson.

It doesn’t hurt to start wideouts in their natural positions and like most rookies, Reagor’s probably not cut out to handle a lot of press-man coverage against NFL cornerbacks so starting him off at Z vs. X makes perfect sense.

The opposite was true of Arcega-Whiteside because of his size and strength. However, there needs to be more alacrity when it comes to getting the younger WRs on the field especially in the modern game where practice time continues to be scaled back under the new CBA.

“One of the things that all of our receivers really have the capability of doing is moving inside, whether they are an outside guy going inside or an inside guy going outside,” said Pederson. “We'll keep [Reagor] at one position to start and we'll grow from there.”

There needs to be more of a sense of urgency to utilize what players can do and not put too much of an emphasis on what they can’t even if that means scaled-back packages until you get them up to speed as a well-rounded receiver.

Everyone would like Marvin Harrison-like adeptness when it comes to the route tree but that’s a pie-in-the-sky level expectation.

Modern football requires more modernized thinking and Wentz needs playmakers on the field even if they are getting manufactured touches.

It’s entirely possible Reagor is sped up by Septemeber and is a big part of the Eagles offense but the early exit polling taken from Pederson’s own words have raised some valid red flags

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

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