Philadelphia Eagles: JJ Arcega-Whiteside May Be Odd Man Out
Gaining speed was a big part of the Philadelphia Eagles offseason plans. They made sure to make that a big focus in the draft. They even added Marquis Goodwin through a trade with the San Francisco 49ers.
Through the draft, they added Jalen Reagor, John Hightower and Quez Watkins. All of those receivers are burners. They also already have Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Greg Ward Jr. and JJ Arcega-Whiteside.
It has yet to been seen if Jeffery will be on this team or not. From what we have heard from the Eagles it looks like he will be back.
Last year when Jeffery and Jackson went out with injury the Eagles found themselves in trouble. They probably would not have made the playoffs if Ward did not step up for them.
The Eagles were completely out of options in terms of their wide receivers. They didn’t have a receiver get more than 500 yards. This year they are doing something about their lack of production, injuries and lack of speed.
That may be the reason for the abundance of bodies.
They went out and got players that want to play and can run. With that said with his lack of production Arcega-Whiteside may be out. Arcega-Whiteside was one of the outside receivers during the last leg of last season.
The former first-round pick was only able to muster up 10 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. Last year was the second-round pick’s rookie season but the Eagles may be moving in a different direction with all the transactions at receiver.
When he was drafted the excitement was the fact that he would be a big target that could go up for 50/50 balls in the endzone. For his only touchdown against the Miami Dolphins, he wasn’t able to show his leaping ability but he was able to use his body to move the cornerback out of the way and score a touchdown.
Jalen Reagor has the ability to run a 4.2 in the 40, John Hightower has 4.4 speed at 6’2 and Quez Watkins has 4.3 speed. In terms of the veterans, DeSean Jackson has 4.3 speed and Goodwin has 4.2 speed.
The Eagles are fast now and with new options to examine at the receiver position the Eagles may have to look in another direction at receiver. It will all depend on training camp so Arcega-Whiteside can impress and keep his spot.
He reportedly has possible 4.3 speed. He is still young and has talent so he is valuable to this team. There is just a log jam at the position that may leave him the last man out. At the most, the Eagles probably keep six receivers.
There are a lot of questions to answer in terms of what the Eagles will do at the receiver position. Who will make the team? What will they do with Alshon Jeffery? What will Greg Ward’s role be after a great season with a position so stacked? What will the depth chart look like?
All that should be answered in the next couple of months. It will be a fun and interesting battle at the receiver position.
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