Justin Jefferson ready to make Eagles, others that passed on him pay

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The Eagles could have selected LSU receiver Justin Jefferson with the 21st pick last week but they didn’t. Instead, they took TCU’s Jalen Reagor. 

And now Jefferson is ready to make them and every other team who passed on him pay. 

“Every single person that picked a receiver instead of me are going to pay,” Jefferson said on the Zach Gelb Show. “I’m going to show them that I am the better receiver than the pick that they had. ... I’m definitely excited to go into Minnesota and [compete] for [a] Super Bowl.”

As a reminder, here are the teams who took a receiver before Jefferson: 

12. Raiders: Henry Ruggs III 
15. Broncos: Jerry Jeudy 
17. Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb 
21. Eagles: Jalen Reagor 

Jefferson ended up going to the Vikings with the 22nd pick and will play for a team that is trying to replace Stefon Diggs.

“I felt like I was the best receiver in this draft class, and being the fifth receiver off the board, it kind of was a shocker,” he said. “But also having that on my shoulder going into this next season with Minnesota, I’m definitely excited to show the world what I have.”

In fairness to those other teams, Ruggs, Jeudy and Lamb were widely considered to be the top three receivers in this draft class. Jefferson was considered by most to be the fourth best. So the Eagles are the only team that bucked those expectations. 

The Eagles did so because they loved the speed and explosiveness that Reagor brought to the table; that’s why they decided to take him instead of Jefferson. But Reagor and Jefferson are going to be compared for years to come. If Jefferson ends up being a star and Reagor isn’t, it’ll be a talking point for a long time in this city. 

Because the Eagles had their choice and they made their decision. Only time will tell if it was the right one. 

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