J.J. Arcega-Whiteside isn't an Afterthought to Carson Wentz
It’s easy to get excited about the shiny and new receivers the Eagles have this season, including first-round pick Jalen Reagor as well as later-round picks John Hightower and Quez Watkins.
So easy, in fact, that J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has become almost an afterthought.
NFL Network analyst and veteran of 11 pass-catching seasons in the NFL Nate Burleson released his top five breakout wide receiver candidates from the 2019 class.
Tennessee’s A.J. Brown, Washington’s Terry McLaurin, and Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf are excluded, of course, since they had their breakout seasons as rookies.
Arcega-Whiteside was not on Burleson’s list.
The five who were:
New England’s N’Keal Harry, San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel, the New York Giants’ Darius Slayton, Kansas City’s Mecole Hardman, and Las Vegas’ Hunter Renfrow.
Of the eight receivers mentioned, the Eagles had a crack at four of them – Metcalf, McLaurin, Slayton, and Renfrow all came well after the Eagles took Arcega-Whiteside 57th overall. Hardman went No. 56.
Arcega-Whiteside, it turns out, was drafted with some kind of lingering injury, per Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who threw out that nugget during an offseason interview session.
Not much more is known about what nagged Arcega-Whiteside, and maybe he will talk to reporters at some point as the Eagles training camp proceeds without any outside eyes, such as those that belong to the media, able to watch for obvious, pandemic-related reasons.
It wouldn’t be wise to write off a second-round draft pick after only year, but the concern is that Arcega-Whiteside never really showed even the slightest glimmer of an NFL skillset – no speed, no ability to separate, no route-running understanding, nothing at all, really.
He finished his rookie season with just 10 catches despite playing 42 percent of the offensive snaps. He had 169 yards and one touchdown.
During the Eagles’ four-game winning streak to close the season, he made four catches for 68 yards, so maybe that is something to build on.
“I’ve been excited with J.J.,” said Wentz on a video call last week. “He’s a guy that I’ve never questioned his work ethic, whether that’s studying or weight room, or on the field staying after and catching balls. Work ethic has never been something I’ve questioned with him, and that definitely carried over into this offseason.”
Wentz added that he caught up with Arcega-Whiteside a lot during the offseason and talked to him quite a bit in order to get to know him more as a teammate and friend as well as football-wise.
With Alshon Jeffery on the Active/Pup list and not expected to start the season healthy, a new and improved Arcega-Whiteside would certainly be a big benefit for the Eagles.
“I’m excited to see what he does, and how he grows off his up-and-down first year,” said Wentz. “I’m excited to see what he can do. I think he’s in a really good place. For him, it’s just continuing to gain that confidence. It rose towards the end of the year with more reps and everything.
“You saw him and really a lot of the younger guys step up, so I’m excited to see him as he keeps growing with that confidence and takes ownership of that role, and what he can do to help this team.”
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