Philadelphia Eagles: Is JJ Arcega-Whiteside already a bust?

After just one year, Philadelphia Eagles WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside could already be a bust.

After just a singular season in the NFL, former second-round pick JJ Arcega-Whiteside appears to be on the “outside looking in” when it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles WR room.

Arcega-Whiteside had a disastrous rookie season, there’s no escaping that reality. He logged just 10 total receptions on 22 targets, dropped a game-winning TD pass against Detroit in Week Three, and couldn’t even see the field over practice squad call-ups down the stretch. While it always feels like fans “jump the gun” when it comes to calling players “busts”, Arcega-Whiteside genuinely did have one of the worst rookie seasons we’ve seen in awhile.

With all that said, there was reason to feel mildly optimistic about JJAW heading into his sophomore season. He was reportedly dealing with a nagging injury during the 2019 season, he was going to have time to get bigger and stronger during the offseason, and the added speed that the Eagles acquired around him would in theory open things up for him on the field.

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One of the biggest issues that JJAW faced during the 2019 season was the fact that he was being “cross-trained” at multiple wide receiver positions. What this means essentially is that the Eagles coaching staff was having him learn routes for all three designated WR spots in the offense (X, Y, and Z).

For a rookie, this can be extremely challenging and confusing, especially for someone like JJAW who almost exclusively played the X in college.

For whatever it’s worth, the two men primarily responsible for this philosophy (Carson Walch and Mike Groh), were both fired in the offseason. Seeing JJAW just stick to one position in 2020 could definitely give him a boost compared to the atrocity that was his rookie season.

However, the one major disadvantage that JJAW is working with heading into 2020 is the new layer of competition around him. While the added speed that the Eagles drafted could help open things up for JJAW on offense, it could also result in him losing him spot in the depth chart altogether.

First-round pick Jalen Reagor is a lock for a starting job on the outside, and late round guys Quez Watkins and John Hightower have received a ton of praise during the team’s first two padded practices. Both have been repeatedly making plays during scrimmages, proving that speed does in fact kill.

On top of the rookies, Greg Ward Jr. appears set for a starting job in the slot, a healthy DeSean Jackson will obviously start on the outside next to Reagor, and the way the Eagles have talked about Alshon Jeffery has led many to believe that he could see starter-level snaps whenever he returns from injury.

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Through just the first two practices, it doesn’t seem like JJAW is inherently in the team’s plans moving forward in 2020. The Philadelphia Eagles seriously prioritized speed and quickness during the draft, and the former Stanford wideout just doesn’t fit that new mold in the slightest. If Arcega-Whiteside still isn’t a starter by the end of year two, it definitely doesn’t seem unfair to officially label him a “bust”.

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