Philadelphia Eagles: 1 Huge JJ Arcega-Whiteside collegiate stat that will translate

Here’s one huge stat on JJ Arcega-Whiteside that will translate in a major way for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Normally, the argument that there’s no reason to watch NFL preseason football is a pretty easy one to back up, but the 2019 preseason has taught us a ton about the Philadelphia Eagles. Just take Week 3 as an example. We’ve known this for a while, but we saw it again. Those rookies on offense are pretty good. Eagles fans and their coaches have learned the future is safe with the selection of Andre Dillard, Miles Sanders and JJ Arcega-Whiteside in the most recent NFL Draft.

Let’s just take the latter as a small sample size. Against the Baltimore Ravens, Arcega-Whiteside snagged eight receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Throughout the preseason, Arcega-Whiteside has shown us that his skillset mirrors that of his idol and teammate Alshon Jeffery. Everything was on display in Week 3. ’19’ fought for the 50-50 balls. He ran past guys, hauled in the Eagles’ first touchdown, and spun out of a tackle on a fourth-down conversion that led to Philly’s second touchdown of the night, one that left the right hand of Josh McCown and landed safely in the secure hands of Alex Ellis.

Talking about it doesn’t do it justice. Here’s Arcega-Whiteside in action.

With the coaches the Eagles have, Arcega-Whiteside’s upside, and with ’19’ having the benefit of being able to learn from the guy he used to watch on television, the sky’s the limit. Here’s something you may not have known about the guy from Stanford. In 2018, he was graded by Pro Football Focus as the NCAA‘s highest-graded wide receiver on third and fourth down. Take a look.

Much of the time, we talk about how college stats don’t translate to the NFL. In this case, they will. Not only does ’19’ have the hands, but he also has the physical frame that will frustrate NFL cornerbacks and the speed to get by linebackers. In short, this guy is a matchup problem.

He may not top the league in red-zone efficiency or be pro football’s highest-rated wide receiver on third down (only because Philly has so many possession receivers), but if he pulls in about 40 catches and reaches the end zone five or six times, no one’s going to complain.

Couple that with the fact that defensive coordinators will be up late trying to limit Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert and whatever running back the Eagles trot out, and we can say one thing with tremendous confidence. Arcega-Whiteside will have plenty of opportunities. Can you imagine ’19’ on some team’s third or fourth-best wide receiver, especially in the red zone? That alone is enough to make the imagination run wild.