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19 Days’ Until Kickoff

20 August 2019 Uncategorized

The countdown continues Eagles fans. In honor of 19 days until kickoff, I am pleased to introduce you all to new offensive weapon, rookie wide receiver, JJ Arcega-Whiteside. In April, the Eagles went all in on Carson Wentz at the draft. In the first round, we draft tackle Andre Dillard. In the second round, we grabbed electric running back, Miles Sanders and then wide receiver, JJ Arcega-Whiteside at pick 57 overall. Arcega-White was a three-year starter at Stanford University, but his destiny was written in the stars before he was even born.

On December 31, 1996 Arcega-Whiteside was born in Zaragoza, Spain. At the age of six, he  moved to South Carolina. JJ is the son of Joaquín Arcega and Valorie Whiteside, who played professional basketball in Spain. JJ’s mother Valerie played college ball at Appalachian State. She is the all-time scorer in women’s basketball for the Southern Conference. Additionally, JJ’s uncles, Fernando Arcega and José Arcega, also played basketball professionally in Spain and represented Spain in the Olympics. As you can see from his blood line, he was always destined to be an athlete. JJ played basketball as well as other sports growing up, but he fell in love with football.

JJ went to Paul M. Dorman High School in Roebuck, South Carolina. While there, he racked up 207 receptions for 3,779 yards and 38 touchdowns. Arcega-Whiteside committed to Stanford University to play college football. After red-shirting his freshman year, JJ hit the ground running for the next three years and finally exploded his senior year. Scouts took notice; however, he was not a household name to 31 NFL teams. Luckily, the Eagles were the exception.

Receiving
Year School Games Receptions Yds Avg TD
2016 Stanford 10 24 379 15.8 5
2017 Stanford 11 48 781 16.3 9
2018 Stanford 12 63 1,059 16.8 14
Career 33 135 2,219 16.4 28

So how does he fit into the 2019 Eagles offense? Like a cold beer fitting into a koozie, delightful and refreshing. The Eagles struggled in the red zone in 2018, yes mostly due to a lack of a running game; however, we just didn’t have a go-to-guy. This year, we could potentially have the most lethal red zone offense in the last decade. At running back, we have Jordan Howard who is cash money at the goal line, Sproles who can do it all whether he is sneaking behind our giant line or catching out of the backfield, Sanders who can potentially jump over the pile, and then Clement who had great red zone chemistry with Carson in 2017. Receivers-wise, it’s no contest. We have Alshon who is like having Embiid in the post, Ertz and Goedert who are size and speed mismatches, JJ who dominated red zone catches in college, and then Agholor who is like Blinds-To-Go because you don’t know how he is open but he just is.

So Eagles fans, it looks like Carson has all of his infinity stones and is about to rewrite history. JJ was more excited to play with Carson (who he calls the best quarterback in the NFL) than anything else. So far in camp, JJ has looked the part and will find his way on the field behind Alshon and even Agholor in the slot. If you want a comparison, all I see is a mix of Mike Evans and AJ Green when I see JJ take the field. JJ runs a 4.4 second 40, which is faster than Evans at 4.53 and Green at 4.48 seconds. He has Evan’s long stride and long arms. He has AJ’s unique ability to control his body before and through contact. Most importantly, he plays with a passion and fire in his eyes. In Philly, we love a competitor. Arcega-Whiteside is a long name to pronounce, but it’s not as long as his stat sheet will be at the end of his career. I project JJ to be a top-receiver in the league by his third year. We’ll be watching him make acrobatic catches all year and through his career. Soon, he might even be Carson’s favorite target. As Always, Fly Eagles Fly!

 

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