J.J. Arcega-Whiteside hasn’t really caught on as a NFL receiver, but he sure can block, and so now the Eagles are converting him to tight end, according to Jeff McLane at The Philadelphia Inquirer:

When the Eagles open their offseason program Monday, JJ Arcega-Whiteside will no longer be listed as a wide receiver. He’s moving to tight end, an NFL source told The Inquirer.

Arcega-Whiteside, listed at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds on last year’s roster, added weight during winter training and has embraced the move to a new position, the source said.

I…. don’t hate this? 6’2″, 225 isn’t ideal, but Jeff notes that he put on some pounds. Most #1 tight ends in the NFL will play at at least 240 and stand around 6’3″ or 6’4″. JJAW hasn’t had a lot of success catching passes but if he’s used as a 12 personnel or 13 personnel player who can do some blocking and run a mesh route or two, then maybe it works. It seems like the only direction to move in, honestly, because it’s pretty clear that he’s not gonna be a pro receiver. So you try him out at tight end, see how it goes, and if not, then you can move on.

The Eagles’ tight end depth chart currently features Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, and Tyree Jackson coming off an ACL tear.* Jackson had a great camp, and the Birds were high on him, so it was a bummer to see him go down like that. Perhaps he comes back healthy and picks up where he left off. That would be best case scenario here.

Remember, according to Nick Sirianni, JJAW is the enforcer:

“We’re kind of having this conversation, asking me about wide-outs, we’re kind of painting the picture the same way, Howie and I would talk about it, what do you need for the room? You have that blocking element of  J.J. J.J. did a really good job in his role this year of our enforcer. Of our guy that would go out and get blocks when we needed him to pave the way for the No. 1 rush offense in the NFL.”

 

*forgot to mention Dick Rod is there and Noah Togiai as well