Philadelphia Eagles: Is JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s Philly career already over?

Things aren’t looking good for the Philadelphia Eagles young WR.

We’re only 19 games into the JJ Arcega-Whiteside experience, and yet somehow, his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles might already be nearing an end. He had zero receptions and zero touchdowns through the first three games of the season, and then sat on the sideline as practice squad call-up Travis Fulgham snagged the game-winning touchdown in Week 4.

While you never want to rule off a young player completely (think Brandon Graham), it’s really hard to envision a pathway where JJAW develops into a receiver worthy of that initial second-round evaluation. He’s not been productive in the slightest when healthy, and now he can’t even stay on the field.

It’s bad vibes all around.

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During the offseason I wrote a piece exploring the idea that JJAW might already be a bust, just one year into his NFL career. I got some expected pushback for it, especially considering the fact that the former Stanford wideout was having a productive training camp. However, even prior to this year’s season beginning, it was difficult to see a picture where Arcega-Whiteside would magically blossom into some elite “X” receiver.

The team went out and added three (!) rookie receivers in the draft, and they had plans to bring in a fourth via Marquise Goodwin (before he opted out). Both DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery were set to come back healthy in Howie Roseman’s eyes (that was dumb), plus Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, and Miles Sanders all command their own respective targets as well.

Even if JJAW was 100% locked in for a sophomore breakout, was he even going to get the targets to help mold him into a future starter?

The really frustrating thing about all this, is the fact that essentially every single one of the above mentioned players got hurt. All three of the rookie WRs have dealt with injuries, Jackson and Jeffery are both currently out, Sanders missed Week 1, and Goedert is sat on injured reserve with a broken ankle. Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles were absolutely desperate for someone to throw the ball to early on here in 2020, and JJAW was still nowhere to be found.

If there was ever a time for JJAW to his quarterback’s’ trust and rack up a bunch of catches, it was these last two weeks. Simply put, he blew it.

At this point in time there’s almost zero argument you can make to me in regards to JJAW coming back into the starting lineup once healthy. Fulgham had a bigger impact in one game than Arcega-Whiteside has had in his entire career, and John Hightower has started to show some life as well.

Greg Ward is holding down the slot perfectly fine, and Quez Watkins and Jalen Reagor will return to action eventually. Even Alshon Jeffery deserves a shot at redemption once he’s made active. Regardless of the initial draft capital used on JJAW, there’s simply no spot for him and his zero catches.

Cutting Arcega-Whiteside less than 20 games into his NFL career likely isn’t the answer, but at this point in time Roseman should at least explore pawning him off on a team looking for a redemption candidate. I don’t know why anyone would want JJAW, but hey, the Philadelphia Eagles traded Sam Bradford for a first-round pick once upon a time so you never know.