Redskins rookie raises flags about Eagles secondary, JJ Arcega-Whiteside

At this point, we’re all sick of complaining about the Philadelphia Eagles for the same reasons, but the play of their secondary and JJ Arcega-Whiteside won’t allow us to stop.

We all want to debate how well Carson Wentz, rookie JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Doug Pederson are doing, or whether they’re doing well at all, but in order to understand what the Philadelphia Eagles are going through as a team, you have to mention what they’re attempting to overcome.

Philly won by drafting Miles Sanders in 2019’s NFL Draft, but they’re currently relying on Boston Scott and Greg Ward. They’ve shown promise, but neither was on the active roster when the 2019 regular season began.

The guys who were believed to be Philly’s top two wide receivers coming into the season, Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson, are on the IR. Nelson Agholor regressed and looks like to 2016 version of Nelson Agholor again.

The wide receivers coach, Carson Walch, is awful. The quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, Press Taylor and Mike Groh aren’t much better. As a result, Carson Wentz seems to have regressed, and rookie wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside hasn’t developed at the rate that most of us would have hoped that he would.

Arcega-Whiteside has been targeted 20 times in 2019. So far, he’s hauled in eight receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown. He’s dropped two passes that should have been touchdowns. One should have been a game-winner.

To make matters worse, the Seattle Seahawks took D.K. Metcalf seven picks after the Eagles took Arcega-Whiteside in the 2019 NFL Draft. He’s hauled in 52 receptions for 819 yards and six touchdowns, prompting some to state Philly took the wrong guy. A similar argument surfaced after the Eagles made it a season sweep of the rival Washington Redskins in Week 15.

The Eagles’ secondary was taken to the woodshed again, this time to the tune of 261 passing yards and two touchdowns by way of Dwayne Haskins‘ arm. His favorite target was Terry McLaurin, who hauled in five receptions for 130 yards and one of those touchdown passes from Haskins.

The Redskins found McLaurin in the third round of 2019’s draft. He’s also outplayed Arcega-Whiteside to the tune of 51 receptions for 833 yards and seven touchdowns. His highest yardage total was just handed to him by the Eagles secondary.

He put up 130 yards on the Eagles including a 75-yard catch and run that proved two things. The Eagles are slow on defense, especially in the secondary and though the jury is still out, we’ve all been made aware of more evidence that the Eagles may have taken the wrong wide receiver in the most recent draft.