How the Vikings can revitalize Jalen Reagor’s career

Look for things to improve for Jalen Reagor now that he plays for the Minnesota Vikings.

After struggling to make any impact whatsoever with the Philadelphia Eagles, Jalen Reagor has a great opportunity to reinvent himself as part of the Minnesota Vikings receiving corps.

Although the former TCU star will probably never be better than his new teammate and the guy he was taken one pick ahead of in the 2020 NFL Draft in Justin Jefferson, Minnesota has a proud history of great receiving talent. From Jefferson, to Randy Moss, to Adam Thielen, to Stefon Diggs to Cris Carter, few NFL teams have been kinder to wide receivers than this NFC North franchise.

Fate would have it, Carter was a former Eagle himself who saw his life and career forever change for the better upon linking up with the Vikings in the Twin Cities.

Carter set the bar extraordinarily high for ex-Eagles going to Minnesota, but Reagor has talent.

How Jalen Reagor can get his career turned around with the Minnesota Vikings

Let’s be real. There are so many advantages Reagor has after being traded to the Vikings. The first is he will never play under the same amount of pressure again. He is no longer going to be looked at as a savior to a receiving corps like we was in Philadelphia coming out of TCU. At best, he will play third fiddle to Jefferson and Thielen during his first full season as a member of the Vikings.

Another key component is he will play for a former quarterback in Kevin O’Connell as his new head coach. While his Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is a former offensive coordinator himself, he leaned on the run a good bit during his first year on the job. I mean, why would you not when you have a mobile quarterback in Jalen Hurts and a bevy of running backs he can hand the ball off to?

Although O’Connell is blessed to have Dalvin Cook still in his prime in the Minnesota backfield, he, and everybody, knows the Vikings will win games this season based on how well Kirk Cousins slings the pill. Cousins is not for everyone, but he throws an incredibly accurate ball and will evenly distribute it. This means Reagor will have more opportunities to make plays than with The Birds.

One other thing to consider is the division in which the Vikings play. Although they hail from a northern climate, the Vikings play in a domed stadium, as do the rival Detroit Lions. This means Reagor gets to play in pristine football environments at least nine times a year. Conversely, he was only guaranteed one dome game a year. That was when the Eagles played at the Dallas Cowboys.

Lastly, it should be noted that Reagor’s late best friend was Jeff Gladney. He too was a former first-round pick out of TCU in the 2020 NFL Draft. While his career ended far too soon, Reagor now plays for the franchise his late best friend used to. In a way, he is kind of playing for both of them now. If Reagor has his focus and buys into the Vikings’ way of doing things, he can have success.

A change of scenery does Reagor a world of good, as Minnesota is the ideal landing spot for him.