Remember how back in high school there was always some parent who thought they knew everything? They’d ask the coach why their kid doesn’t play more, or why they called play X instead of play Y, or what have you.

It doesn’t stop in grade school; it continues into the NFL, and now we’ve got Jalen Reagor’s dad defending his son on social media:

The elder Reagor was a NFL player who had a cup of coffee with the Eagles in 2007, after winning the Super Bowl with the Colts. He suffered a bad injury and had to cut his career short, but was a 2nd round draft pick in 1999 and All-American defensive tackle at Texas Tech.

He knows football, and does not believe Quez Watkins is a better player than his son, but that’s a tough argument to make. Watkins is a sixth round draft pick coming out of Conference USA. Reagor was a first rounder from the Big 12.

In two seasons, this is what they’ve done statistically as receivers:

  • Watkins: 33 receptions on 51 targets, 514 yards, one touchdown, 642 total snaps
  • Reagor: 54 receptions on 92 targets, 566 yards, three touchdowns, 997 total snaps

The receiving production is not much different despite the fact that Reagor has played 300 more snaps than Watkins. The difference, obviously, is that Reagor has run the ball for 51 yards and has close to 400 kick and punt return yards, with a score.

That’s still not first round draft pick production. It’s a Tavon Austin-esque path, with an explosive and dynamic guy coming out of college but looking very average in the NFL (though he was dealing with rookie-year injuries). Regardless, we want Reagor to succeed. Of course we do! Nobody is pulling for anybody to fail. But Jalen Reagor is a hard sell right now.