Philadelphia Eagles: Is JJ Arcega-Whiteside sticking with 19?

After trying and largely failing to make the Philadelphia Eagles‘ roster as a wide receiver since being drafted in the second round out of Stanford in 2019, JJ Arcega-Whiteside officially hung up his cleats for good… at least in the wide receivers room.

That’s right, after calls to make a position change rang off and on for the past two years, JJAW has opted to move from wide receiver to tight end, where his abilities as a blocker are a whole lot more applicable.

Will it work? Will JJAW go from a bottom-of-the-roster wide receiver who could barely see the field to a high-end tight end capable of being the sort of red zone threat fans hoped for when he was drafted ahead of DK Metcalf four calendar years ago? Or will his bad luck remain even if the letters next to his name change?

Either way, there’s one more question that needs to be answered about JJ Arcega-Whiteside as he prepares to enter not only his contract year but arguably the most important year of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL in general: Will the team have a tight end who wears number 19?

The Philadelphia Eagles have a decision to make about JJAW’s number.

When the NFL loosened the restrictions on what numbers players can wear, it turned both offenses and defenses into the wild wild west. Suddenly, wide receivers were wearing single digits, cornerbacks were wearing single digits, and in the not too distant future, linebackers like Nakobe Dean will be taking the field wearing the number 17, which has largely been saved for quarterbacks like Ryan Tannehill and wide receivers like Alshon Jeffery.

Will JJ Arcega-Whiteside join that weird legacy of unusually numbered performers, or will he finally give Kenneth Gainwell the number 19, his preferred numerical signifier, in favor of a more traditional selection in the 80s, say 81, 85, or even 89?

In my humble opinion, the latter is the clear play.

I mean think about it, JJAW has had no success at all wearing the number 19 at the NFL level. He’s never caught more than 10 passes, was never targeted more than 22 times and has watched his production go down with each passing season. Outside of the occasional snaps as a designated blocker, Arcega-Whiteside became more of a fixture on special teams than the offensive side of the ball for the Philadelphia Eagles in their first season under Nick Sirianni.

A new number, one in the 80s, isn’t just a cosmetic change – it’s a proverbial metamorphosis where an old skin and all of the baggage associated with it is shed to start anew.

If there’s one player on the Eagles’ roster who needs a fresh set of skin, it would be JJAW.

As unlikely as it may sound, I actually have some faith in the decision to move JJ Arcega-Whiteside to tight end. Even after Grant Calcaterra was drafted in the sixth round, the Philadelphia Eagles have a hole at tight end due to the loss of Tyree Jackson back in January. Despite all of the warts on his game, JJAW is still one of the team’s best blockers regardless of position, and if he can bulk up a good bit without losing much of his athleticism, having an opportunity to take snaps against linebackers could be a godsend for a performer who just couldn’t get the separation needed to be an effective X receiver at the NFL level. New number or old number, this one should be interesting.