3 Reasons JJ Arcega-Whiteside deserves a pass from Eagles fans

1. Some people are late bloomers.

Eagles defensive end and legend Brandon Graham was often seen as and described as a bust during the early years of his career. After appearing in 13 games and starting six games as a rookie (he recorded 13 tackles and three sacks that year), B.G. went on to rack up 62 tackles and 8.5 sacks over the next three seasons.

That isn’t bad if you’re a fourth-round draft choice, but fans of the ‘Birds’ clamored for more from the 13th-overall selection of 2010’s NFL Draft.

Philly’s watched Derek Barnett deal with nicks and bruises en route to tallying 67 tackles, 14 sacks, and three forced fumbles over the course of 35 career games. Again that isn’t bad, but it’s not the game-wrecking that we expected when Philly took him 14th-overall in 2017.

Most of you know Halapoulivaati Vaitai‘s story. Lane Johnson got suspended. ‘Big V’ stepped in, and in his first run-in with the Washington Redskins and Ryan Kerrigan, the results were less than stellar.

Big V’s developed into one of the most versatile tackles in the NFL. Graham is one of the greatest Eagles of all time (and the author of the greatest strip-sack in NFL history). Barnett’s best years are ahead of him. Some guys are late bloomers, and that’s okay. Arcega-Whiteside will be fine. It was one year, and he was surrounded by inferior coaching. Let’s see how he progresses moving forward.