J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is now a Seahawk
It felt somewhat inevitable that Ugo Amadi would be cut before the season started, unless he had a sparkling training camp.
His cap hit was $2.7m and moving on saved $2.5m. It’s not the most expensive deal but it was still too much for a player who hasn’t shown enough.
A safety in college, Amadi never really found a spot in Seattle. It’s telling that the Eagles are now listing him as a ‘DB’. That’s part of the problem. He’s not a particularly good nickel corner. He’s not convinced anyone to stick at safety. He can’t play outside and he isn’t a deatbacker type.
So what is he?
As a nickel in 2021 he earned a 43.7 PFF grade which felt warranted. He simply wasn’t very good.
You can carry a versatile depth piece on a cheap rookie deal. When they start costing nearly $3m, it’s time to move on.
The Seahawks have signed Justin Coleman (who played poorly in Pittsburgh) but could also give Coby Bryant a season at nickel or utilise Marquise Blair in that spot. Either way, they’re clearly comfortable with the options they have.
It was reported earlier in the day that Amadi would be cut. This is one of those moments where the Eagles saw an opportunity and the two teams came together to strike a deal before his release.
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has been a bust in the NFL. A former second round pick, he’s simply too stiff and robotic. He showed that in college too — he just had a knack for making contested catches and winning 1v1’s.
He’s not particularly fast (4.50) or explosive (34 inch vertical) and there’s nothing spectacular about his profile.
The chances are he won’t amount to anything in Seattle. It’s not the best situation for him that he’s bulked up to 237lbs for a switch to tight end and now the Seahawks want him to play receiver again. Arcega-Whiteside was 225lbs at his combine.
Yet given the pending departure of Amadi anyway, why not have a look at a player once drafted seven spots higher than D.K. Metcalf? Especially when the team has a few injuries at receiver and (quite rightly) isn’t risking Metcalf or Tyler Lockett in these pre-season games.
He may well be cut in a week or two. We’ll see. It’s a shot to nothing.
These are the kind of moves where the Seahawks have struck gold in the past. There’s nothing wrong with having a look.
If you enjoy the content on Seahawks Draft Blog, please consider supporting us via Patreon (click the tab below)…
JJ Arcega Whiteside gives me kasen Williams / jazz furguson vibes
My guess is he makes a couple circus catches in the next preseason games and a subset of the fanbase will moan about him getting cut even thought he just doesn’t have a regular season skill set
Arcega-Whiteside is a one trick pony in the Ben Skowronek mold. McVay got that 7th round right, the Eags didn’t.
The real headscratcher here is, that we pay over 20m a year to a guy, who does this one trick as a part time job. Which makes Philliy’s pick even more ridiculous.
No Ducks!
Any of the 2022 college Centers on your radar for the Hawks?
Best of luck to Mr. Amadi in Philly, but most ducks in the nfl don’t amount to much. (Besides Herbie)
What you say is generally true Captain, but I have to mention Dan Fouts, whose brilliance I observed firsthand – eons ago – while living in San Diego. Tip o’ the cap to Fouts, who would have won maybe 2-3 Super Bowls, had the Chargers fielded even a mediocre defense.
Fouts is one of my all-time favourites. A great QB & tough as nails.
Isn’t that just generally true for all schools though? Even most Bama players never amount to much.
Creed Humphrey. Oh wait, we prioritized WR3 over a C everyone knew would eventually be a pro bowler. When we already had 2 stud WRs and desperately needed a C. Not sure how JS always keeps his job but unless Ms. Allen keeps him on a short leash, expect Blythe to be our C for a while.
Just keep the roster churn going. I don’t mind, give him a chance always compete
Todays a day I search in YouTube JJAW highlights and saw there are none.
Eagles fans will type in ugo amadi highlights and find the same results lol 😂
Tbh, Amadi was more of a factor than Arcega-Whiteside.
I wonder, if they’ll trade Blair in the next days.
Amadi was awful though at nickel
Truly awful
And they obviously didn’t fancy him at safety. At least Blair has a bit of menace to him
Is there any dead money if the Seahawks cut him?
No
https://www.nfl.com/news/2022-nfl-preseason-week-1-recap-what-you-need-to-know-about-injuries-position-ba
It’s going to be a long season
Very long. I try to keep focusing on young talented Bookend OT (Lucas and Cross) and Edge rushers (Taylor and Mafe) to keep my spirits up.
Pretty clear now though the biggest needs next offseason are 1) QB and 1a) New Head Coach.
Have always been a Pete supporter and appreciate what he has done for the Hawks but it is clearly time to move on. If they were to for example get Will Levis in the draft then Pete can’t be the guy in charge of his development. Simple as that.
“He takes 6 yards on third-and-12, and Carroll loves that.”
SIGH
Well I guess the good news here is that plenty of other folks see Pete for what he is. The bad news is that as you both mentioned, it’s going to be a rough season.
The problem isn’t even that Carroll loves a guy who won’t turn the ball over on 3rd and longs.
It’s that apparently Carroll doesn’t have a problem with a QB who consistently puts the offense in 3rd and longs.
Embrace
The conservative route isn’t a terrible one. There definitely is logic to it.
HOWEVER, you have to have a consistent running game, a top-15 bordering on top-10 defense, and no special teams screwups to make it work for you.
That is a pretty thin margin.
It will be an even tougher season, if – no, as soon as McDaniel turns around the Fins. Dude’s system made Skylar Thompson flourish vs Bucs, and you have to wonder what it will do to Tua.
We had the choice being back to a championship with a new coach and our franchise QB in two years, or managing pointless competition and always the same crap with our current HC.
Our choice was plain wrong.
You’re also assuming that if they’d made the change, the Seahawks makeshift ownership structure would be able to make the kind of inspired appointment you’re talking about — 2-3 years out from selling the team.
Or that it’d be reasonable for them to spend a fortune replacing the incumbent coach as they near a handover.
And btw Trevor, we’re not getting a new HC next season, sadly. He won’t be gone til his contract expires or the team is sold. I only hope he doesn’t ruin the new QB by making him too gun shy.
Jody made her choice. We’ll have to live with several more seasons of Carroll.
As long as it’s the last season of Pete Carroll …
Pete’s here until the team is sold now
Conservative Pete, no wonder the Seahawks throw the ball to a receiver behind the line of scrimmage so often. That goes all the way back to Percy Harvin, speediest receiver they never threw downfield too.
Very Long. Hopefully a pot of Levis at the end of the rainbow!
Trust me if Geno starts another 2 preseason games he make some boneheaded decisions. He will not disappoint us.
This.
The idea that Geno isnt turnover prone is hilarious.
https://twitter.com/RussellMetcat/status/1556098813965717505
I mean duh I’m Geno, i will throw away the game in 4th quarter that’s what I do. Don’t worry Lock fans, Geno will make sure he will not start the season. I wish he is not even on team as a backup. But PC will keep him because he know so called play book/system.
My impression of Geno scrambling around in the pocket was that he looked like a befuddled poor man’s Wilson. I was getting flashbacks to previous years and loss of yardage.
I just thought he looked like… Geno Smith
Noice
https://mobile.twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/1559182919859568641
that’s not bad, hopefully it can carry into the regular season
Baldy likes Tariq
https://mobile.twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1559293644355559424
I still think they’ll give Lock his shot. They want to coach him up a bit before throwing him in. They can’t bank on getting Levis. They need Lock for NEXT year. Lock has already had a lot of lumps in his career. He needs coaching. We’d really be stuck with Geno if Lock got his confidence destroyed in the Denver game.
Not worried with the QB approach.
I think the Detroit game will be the first extended look at Lock. That’s fine with me.
And hey, I reserve the right to eat my words, but for now I trust Pete with the QBs.
Think the confidence thing is overblown. Lock strikes me as a very assured confident qb. It’s one of the defining traits of mediocre to great qb’s.
If a loss to Denver were to destroy his confidence then what kind of qb is he anyway?
He played with a ton of swagger in college on a pretty average team.
I just think let him rip. Geno truly sucks at qb. If Lock takes his lumps but gets the confidence of the staff the hawks may well have won the trade at the season’s end. Doing split time with other qb’s in my opinion has done more to hamper his growth and confidence than anything else.
I saw that Nik Bonnito had four sacks for the Broncos in a practice with the Cowboys last week.
It might not matter if we start Geno in week one if he’s injured in week two.
I think JJ is an admission that Parkinson is a bust at TE. We need a big WR3/4 to move the chains on 3rd down. I don’t think it will be anyone on this roster. I wish we could get Boykin from Pittsburgh.
And we also need a speedy kick returner.
These are two holes we can easily fill before the season starts. But, will we?
Word is they are putting JJ back to WR.
Parkinson might be a bust. But isn’t Fant supposed to be the chains mover. Not a huge fan of his but he has looked okay this far.
Maybe the JJ trade amounts to nothing. But could it also be a sign that the team lacks confidence in some of its WR depth?
Eskridge?
Swain?
Melton?
Johnson?
Young?
I think it’s merely a sign of availability at this point
They are thin in terms of available WR’s to play in pre-season and are rightly not risking the big two
It’s not that at all
Lock taking reps with the 1s.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/08/16/drew-lock-taking-first-team-reps-with-seattle-offense/
https://twitter.com/mikedugar/status/1559654014211334144?s=21&t=axFwwTxKX_MB_Y5_EDjJIw
Drew lock did not play well against the 1s
What is Matt Flynn doing these days? Stocking shelves at a HY-Vee?
Lock will start thursday. Part of the plan.
Geno still #1 per Pete
That is encouraging that he is actually getting a shot.
Curtis Crabtree: Carroll said Dee Eskridge won’t play Thursday, but is getting closer to returning. Had an MRI that supported that he’s really close to getting back and he’s done reps in walkthroughs. Still not quite there yet.
Bob Condotta: Carroll says Ken Walker III dealing with a hernia issue. Says doesn’t know yet what that means. Jake Curhan out with back spasms.
Brady Henderson:
– Seahawks RB Ken Walker III didn’t practice today. Said Pete Carroll: “Ken’s got a little hernia thing that he’s working on and we’ve got to get through that. So I don’t know what to tell you yet, but it’s something that we can attend to and all that … ”
– Carroll on Walker continued: “We’ve just got to make sure that he’s OK by the opener is what we’re shooting for.”
https://twitter.com/BradyHenderson/status/1559681161357496320
Based on what I just read about sports hernias (as opposed to true hernias) on the John’s Hopkins Medical site, it probably means an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. It could require surgery, but “Mild to moderate symptoms can be typically remedied with rest, anti-inflammatory medication, ice and physical therapy.”
He probably got hit while twisting to get skinny through a hole and now has an oblique injury. But just speculation on my part.
Damn it. Walker is the guy I most have looked forward to watching this year. Get well Kenneth!
Meh. I wouldn’t panic over this. Pete made it sound like he was way ahead of the curve coming out of mini-camp. They’ll probably give him about four weeks of rest to see if it heals on it’s own. That would put him back in action right around September 6th.
So if he practices on that Thursday, September 8th, he could probably play on Monday the 12th against Denver in the opener.
Didn’t Ricky Watters have one of these?
Yeah, Pete has never been purposely evasive and vague about injuries….. I bet if you asked him he’d say Chris Carson is thiiiiiiisss close to a miraculous comeback. Kind of like when he damn well knew Jamal broke his finger and said he was “having an issue with his surgically repaired finger”. That’s not “an issue’, it’s a GD fracture. Watch KWIII go on IR tomorrow and Pete act like it was such a sudden surprise.
Well, I need to correct myself here. It was Marshawn Lynch who had one of these.
From the article on ABC News on 11/25/2015
“The doctor was very optimistic about a quick recovery,” Carroll said. “And that could mean within three or four weeks or something like that, there’s a chance. So we’ll see how that all works out.”
Carroll was asked if it’s possible that Lynch could miss the rest of the season.
“I think you’d have to say that there’s a chance, yeah,” he said. “…But we don’t expect that to happen.”
He had surgery and played in 7 games that year starting six.
I’m still hoping that the injury to Walker is something really minor but yeah, we can’t based anything on Pete’s comments. There’s a reason some people call him Petey Sunshine!
Sure. All head coaches are liars.
But the games don’t count right now.
The @Seahawks announced that QB Drew Lock has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Thursday’s game vs. the Chicago Bears.
https://twitter.com/seahawksPR/status/1559696269609619456
Ha! Is that why Pete agreed to let him start the game. Gets to try and appease the fans while sticking with Geno.
Right.
Short week of practice, give him a day with the ones so he can “comPete” and then get covid. Real competitive, Pete.
I hate that I am starting to hate Pete.
Welcome to the club my friend.
I think this is a ridiculous angle on this to take.
QUestion Rob. Based on things going in 2022 that we have seen so far, and that neither current QB is the answer. How would you prioritize draft capital, say we and Denver are middle of the road teams? Certainly QB as you have indicated. What would be the next couple of spots you would look to further our retooling?
It’s too early to say. Let’s see how the team plays in 2022. But everything comes second to QB.
Imo with 4 picks in the top 60
QB
Dline disruptor
Interior oline (preferably centre)
Off ball lber
An example of such:
1 Levis
1 Dexter/Ika/Bresee
2 Van Pran/Schmitz
2 Flowe/Campbell/Overshown
Go WR early round 3 and that becomes a damn robust roster.
https://instagram.com/stories/seahawks/2906392180941886691?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Guy looks like a madden created character!
Lock tests positive for covid19 wont start or play Thursday. Such a bummer
This is turning into a bad soap opera. They aren’t going to want to play Geno the whole game on Thursday. Eason will have to play unless they add an emergency QB.