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JJ Arcega-Whiteside touches on his rookie struggles and more during Spanish interview

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https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2020/5/4/21246464/jj-arcega-whiteside-touches-rookie-struggles-eagles-spanish-interview-philadelphia-nfl-stanford-wr

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JJ Arcega-Whiteside touches on his rookie struggles and more during Spanish interview

 

Can Philly’s 2019 second-round pick turn it around in Year 2?

Wild Card Round - Seattle Seahawks v Philadelphia EaglesPhoto by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

Labeling JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s rookie season with the Philadelphia Eagles as "disappointing” would be ... well, an understatement.

The Eagles’ 2019 second-round pick played 486 offensive snaps but logged just 10 receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown. Despite being the sixth receiver off the board, JJAW ranked 28th among all rookies in receiving yards. The Stanford alumnus ranked dead last in Pro Football Focus’s yards per route run metric:

 

Yards per route run is one of @PFF's most predictive metrics year over year.

The 2019 rookie WR class ranked in order of YPRR:

View image on Twitter
 
 

 

JJAW recently talked about his struggles and more in an interview with 100 Yardas. I don’t speak Spanish so I don’t have the exact transcript (let me know if you can provide that!) but our good friend Ignacio was kind enough to share some takeaways based on his own translation.

F5fJTNZp_bigger.jpg

Biggest takeaways from JJAWs interview:
-At one point in the season they had to help him walk to the bathroom in the morning
-Tough to learn every single position in the playbook, came into the game without knowing where he was gonna play
(1/8) https://twitter.com/process_this76/status/1256968415253803013 …

 

-Embraces new WRs, understands they needed speed. Makes a point they all bring different things to the table. He’s ready for it
-It was tough last year with so many injuries, it was like fighting one-handed and they still came through.
(2/8)

 
 
F5fJTNZp_bigger.jpg

-With so many injuries, WRs had to play a lot more snaps, meaning more injuries for everybody
-Has a great relationship with Carson, they talk regularly and Carson even gave him some tips for JJs new dog
-He said Carson expects big things from him,so does he from Carson.
(3/8)

 

-He got asked about the lack of targets from Carson, he said: "If I was him I’d throw to Ertz and Dallas too, Ertz’s is the best.
-They see Ertz as one of the captains of the team, a leader. "Burn the ships”
(4/8)

 
 
F5fJTNZp_bigger.jpg

-Got asked about trade rumours: said he’s ready for anything but wants to be an Eagle for a long time
-He adds Philly has the best fans, they’re crazy. There are 2 things for philly fans: work and Eagles football on sundays
-Much better than teams who dont even have fans
(5/8)

 

-They asked him about Miles: says he’s a beast, can do everything. He’ll be a feature back for a while
-About Doug: says he loves him, that everybody does, that he’s one of them and adapts to all the players, mentions that not every coach is like that.
(6/8)

 
 
F5fJTNZp_bigger.jpg

-Doug told him at the end of the season: "Don’t listen to the outside noise, work hard, we expect big things from you”
-Doesn’t know Hurts personally, but only heard good things, phenomenal player and great person. Can’t wait to see how they integrate him in the offense
(7/8)

 

-Says SB is the main goal, anything else will be a disappointment. He knows fans expect that and only that. They’re ready for it.
(8/8)

 
 

 

Some thoughts:

  • That JJAW said he needed help just to walk to the bathroom at one point seems kinda significant. To what extent did his injury status factor in to his struggles? Howie Roseman broached the topic during his postmortem press conference in January.

"J.J. is a talented kid. He has tools in his body and he had production. I think back to after the Baltimore preseason game, myself and some members of our personnel staff got some calls from people around the league that maybe he was going to be the Rookie of the Year. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have to take a jump, because he does. This offseason is really important for him. I don’t think we saw the best of J.J. He was affected a little by injuries.”

JJAW first appeared on the Eagles’ injury report in Week 4. He missed a Monday practice with a heel issue ahead of the team’s Thursday Night Football game in Green Bay. He wasn’t listed on the injury report again until he popped up as a limited practice participant with a foot issue leading up to Week 16. JJAW was also limited in Week 17 but didn’t appear on the injury report at all for the Eagles’ wild card playoff game. It was that final game where his 12 offensive snaps were outpaced by former practice squad members Greg Ward (50), Robert Davis (48), and Deontay Burnett (13). So, I don’t think injury alone can be used to explain away JJAW’s rookie struggles but it could’ve been a contributing factor.

  • Early in the season, the Eagles’ coaching staff attributed JJAW’s lack of production/playing time to him only being versed at the "X” position as Alshon Jeffery’s primary backup. JJAW gaining a deeper understanding of multiple positions could really help him out. Of course, he might not actually be able to get the proper reps he needs given how COVID-19 is impacting the NFL offseason schedule.
  • With JJAW only logging 22 targets in 486 snaps played, it’s clear that Carson Wentz didn’t have much trust in him. That needs to change.
  • Not sure what the reference to trade rumors is about. JJAW hasn’t been included in any of those.
  • Nice to see the encouraging words from Doug Pederson.

It remains to be seen how JJAW fits in to the Eagles’ offense this season and beyond. I currently have him projected to be a starter with the idea that Jeffery is either beginning the season on PUP or won’t be on the team at all. But the Eagles have a lot of bodies at receiver and nothing is set in stone.

The case for optimism is that JJAW seems like a genuinely hard-working kid who did show flashes in that Ravens preseason game last year. Getting healthy and more experienced could make a difference for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The case for pessimism is that history does not bode well for JJAW’s outlook and the injury/lack of experience factors are merely excuses. He wasn’t without struggles at Stanford:

 

Wanted to love #Stanford WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside, just didn't see it. Maybe something in between a Malcom Floyd-Terrance Williams style player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U95aTaNvbHs …

 
 

The Eagles would sure love to see JJAW step up in 2020. Are you feeling confident he can?

 

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matchew88 Practice Squad

matchew88

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With an actual coach at WR, I see him step up more in Yr 3, when he legit replaces Alshon

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