Philadelphia Eagles: JJ Arcega-Whiteside can save the 2019 season

With DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery out for the foreseeable future, JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s development could sink or save the Philadelphia Eagles’ playoff hopes.

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ offensive playmakers are kind of a mess at the moment.

DeSean Jackson is on season-ending injured reserve following abdominal surgery, Alshon Jeffery is week-to-week with an ankle injury and Jordan Howard is still recovering from a Week 9 stinger. Barring yet another mid-season addition, Doug Pederson‘s offense is going to look a little different down the stretch – even after the returns of former fan favorites like Jordan Matthews and Jay Ajayi.

With a starting receiving corp of *gulp* Matthews, Nelson Agholor, and (probably) Mack Hollins set to take the field in what should be a tight end-heavy outing against the New England Patriots, it’s hard to identify where exactly the big plays are going to come from for Doug Pederson‘s offense moving forward – if they ever return at all.

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But what if I was to tell you the team already has a highly touted receiver on their roster that many scouts smarter than I believed would be a home run player at the pro-level. What if this player played wide receiver like a power forward and had an almost otherworldly ability to climb the ladder and bring down contested catches while playing in a run-heavy offense.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, that player exists, and his name is JJ Arcega-Whiteside.

I know, I know, singing the praises of JJAW at this point is one step above calling Hollins underutilized on the ‘most hated jawn-o-meter’ but hear me out on this one.

I’m not suggesting that Arcega-Whiteside is a great player right now, or has played well so far this season (he hasn’t), but if he can put things together with an expanded role after an opportunity to step back and recompose himself, well that could go a long way to getting the Eagles back into the postseason.

Just for context, the Eagles have made the playoffs in every season that Matthews and Ajayi were teammates, but any little bit helps, right?

With a wide catch radius, solid physicality, and a near-unhealthy love of contact with defensive backs, JJAW has the potential to be a seriously effective player not only on the outside against smaller cornerbacks but across the middle of the field as a Marques Colston-esque ‘big slot’ receiver. Granted, the Birds receiving corp is kind of exclusively made up of that kind of dude, but that’s a problem for Howie Roseman to address next March.

Furthermore, while it may not be the most glamorous part of his game, Arcega-Whiteside is a fantastic run-blocking receiver and could become a vital cog in the Birds’ outside running game.

Miles Sanders: Meet your new best friend.

Is he a burner like D-Jax? No, but neither is Jeffery, yet he’s been incredibly productive over his three-year tenure with the team.

Next. Is Dallas Goedert more valuable than Zach Ertz?. dark

While the Philadelphia Eagles probably aren’t going to set many passing records through the air down the stretch, as the team appears fully committed to re-incorporating their 2017 ground-and-pound game plan (more on that here), if JJ Arcega-Whiteside can put it all together and prove that he deserves to be in the same conversation as D.K. Metcalf and Terry McLaurin, it could go a long way to securing a third-straight trip to the playoffs – all the while keeping Matthews/Ajayi’s streak intact.

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