5 years agoI'll start with a small caveat that maybe JJ Arcega-Whiteside's struggles as a rookie can be attributed to the recent report that he was playing through injuries. But I'm skeptical. Arcega-Whiteside was an awful prospect that had every opportunity on an injury-ravaged receiving corps that got jumped by UDFA Greg Ward who was signed midseason off the street. JJAW had a real problem separating in college and that translated into the NFL. JJAW averaged just 0.93 yards of separation at target. His claim to fame was his contested catch ability. He only had eight contested targets as a rookie, but also caught just one of them. 22 targets is hardly a reliable sample size, but what we saw was downright terrible. The Eagles liked what they saw from Ward. They brought back DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery. They drafted Jalen Reagor in the first round. They have two excellent tight ends in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Both of their running backs, Miles Sanders and Boston Scott, can catch passes. We are looking at Arcega-Whiteside opening the season ninth on the target totem pole. He shouldn't be drafted in a 25 round redraft league. 8/18/20 Update: With Jeffery unlikely to be ready for opening day and possibly never returning and Marquise Goodwin opting out, Arcega-Whiteside suddenly finds himself as potentially the fourth receiver by default. He has no hope of starting in three receiver sets, but the Eagles can't catch a break at wide receiver and he may be forced to if one more player goes down, which, with Jackson being one of the remaining healthy players, is exceedingly likely. This changes nothing for my outlook on him because even if he gets on the field, he's not going to produce, but it's worth nothing he now has a more realistic path to at least playing.--Jason Katz