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By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports
Jalen Reagor is headed to the National Football League following three seasons at Texas Christian University.
The speedy wide receiver and 2017 Waxahachie High graduate announced his decision to enter the NFL first-year player draft via Twitter on Monday morning.
Reagor, who is currently a true junior at TCU in Fort Worth, first thanked TCU and head football coach Gary Patterson for the opportunity to continue his football and educational careers at the collegiate level. He also credited Patterson, along with other TCU assistant coaches, for helping develop his mental and physical toughness that will aid in the “rest of my football career.”
“The relationships I have built at TCU will be lifelong friendships and I am so proud to have been a part of such a great university and football program,” Reagor stated on Twitter.
Reagor went on to note that his dream to play in the NFL was first realized at the age of eight. It was then that he watched his father, Montae Reagor, help the Indianapolis Colts win Super Bowl XLI in 2007.
“I knew I wanted to play in the NFL and win a championship,” Reagor added. “After much prayer and discussion with my family, I have decided to forego my remaining eligibility and enter the NFL Draft. I am looking forward to contributing at the next level the work ethic and leadership that have been taught to me my entire life, and which I am so thankful for. Go Frogs!”
Before kickoff of the 2019 college football season, both ProFootball Focus and Dane Brugler, an NFL Draft expert and player evaluator for The Athletic, pegged the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Reagor as a potential mid-round first-round draft pick.
Both outlets pointed to Reagor’s elite speed and ability to “make plays” as to why he should be considered midway through the first round.
TCU CAREER
Reagor capped his three-year TCU tenure with a highlight-reel 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Frogs’ season-finale against West Virginia on Saturday. The touchdown run — which he made look relatively easy by coasting into the end zone after somehow blowing by three would-be tacklers — put TCU up 17-10 with 10:32 to play in the third quarter.
The punt return for a touchdown was his second of the season, making him the first Horned Frog since Jeremy Kerley in 2009 to reach the feat.
The Horned Frogs went on to lose the Big 12 contest 20-17, which eliminated the program from bowl contention for just the third time in Patterson’s 19 seasons leading the Horned Frog program.
Reagor ended his junior season with 43 catches for 611 yards and five touchdowns.
Those numbers are a far cry from the 72 receptions for 1,061 yards and nine touchdowns Reagor recorded during his sophomore season. He was just the third TCU wide receiver to break the 1,00-yard plateau in a single season (Josh Doctson, 2014; Reggie Harrell, 2003).
The reception and yards totals were both second-best in TCU history.
Reagor even had a stretch of 25 consecutive games with a reception and seven consecutive with a touchdown reception. He even became the first wide receiver in Big 12 history to record a 100-yard rushing, 90-yard receiving game on the same day (vs Oklahoma State on Nov. 24, 2018).
The drop-off in production will not be held against Reagor come draft time, however.
When I asked Brugler on Twitter in October how much poor or inconsistent quarterback play would affect Reagor’s draft stock, he stated, “Not much. [It’s] why teams watch the film and don’t just focus on stats. It’s unfortunate, but it won’t hurt him come draft time.”
Not much. Why teams watch the film and don’t just focus on the stats. It’s unfortunate, but it won’t hurt him come draft time.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) October 19, 2019
Over his first two seasons at TCU, Reagor was named to the 2018 Second-Team All-Big 12, 2018 Pro Football Focus Second-Team All-Big 12, 2018 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honor Roll (vs. Oklahoma State), 2017 True Freshman All-America Team (247Sports) and 2017 Big 12 Co-Offensive Freshman of the Year.
He was also voted by his teammates as TCU’s Dan Rogers Most Valuable Player in 2018.
He ends his TCU career with 148 receptions for 2,248 yards and 22 touchdowns.
The 148 career receptions rank seventh all-time in TCU history behind Cory Rodgers (150, 2003-05), while his 22 touchdown catches ties Josh Boyce (2010-12) for second all-time behind Josh Doctson (29, 2013-15) and the 2,248 receiving yards is sixth all-time behind Stephen Shipley (2,251, 1989-92).
Reagor recorded 26 total touchdowns (two rushing, two punt returns) while at TCU.
WAXAHACHIE HISTORY?
Despite the numbers posted during his junior season, Reagor still has an opportunity to become the highest-drafted alumni of Waxahachie High School.
As it currently sits, Richard Chapman is the highest-ever player drafted by an NFL in the history of Waxahachie High School, as he was selected 13th overall in the 1954 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He chose not to sign and, instead, pursued a Ph.D. in nuclear physics.
Monate Reagor is currently the second-highest drafted football player out of Waxahachie High School, as he was selected in the second round (58th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft out of Texas Tech University. He is the highest-drafted alumnus to play a down in the NFL.
Other notable Waxahachie ISD alumni drafted into the NFL include:
Steve Howell, the current head softball coach for the Waxahachie Lady Indians, was selected in the fourth round (107th overall) by the Miami Dolphins in the 1979 NFL Draft.
Chuck Beatty— the only alumnus of Turner High School in Waxahachie to play in the NFL — was drafted in the 7th round (160th overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1969 NFL Draft.
Aldrick Robinson was selected out of SMU by the Washington Redskins in the 6th round (178th overall) of the 2011 draft.
Brian Waters (UNT), Broderick Sargent (Baylor) and Buzz Sawyer (Baylor) are all Waxahachie alumni and signed NFL contracts as free agents in 1999, 1986 and 1987, respectively.
Waters is the lone WISD alumnus to play in a Pro Bowl (doing so six times) or named an All-Pro (twice). He was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Ring of Honor in October.
The 2020 NFL Draft, which will be the 85th in league history, is slated for April 23-25 in Paradise, Nevada.
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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith
tsmith@kbec.com
