Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Thoughts on Treyvon Hester’s promotion

Here are three thoughts on the promotion of Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester.

The Philadelphia Eagles made another roster move on Tuesday evening as their version of musical chairs continued. They announced that they waived defensive tackle Bruce Hector, and in his place, they promoted fellow defensive tackle Treyvon Hester to the active roster.

Hector, an undrafted free agent out of South Florida turned heads during training camp and the NFL preseason, but he’s failed to make any kind of splash during the first four games of the regular season.

As a matter of fact. There’s nothing but zeros across his stat line. He hasn’t registered a single tackle or a sack. He hasn’t forced a fumble or fallen on top of one. Philly’s gotten virtually no production out of him during their first four games.

Here’s the announcement if you missed it:

Here are three immediate thoughts following Mr. Hester’s promotion.

1. Here’s what was said about Hester in his draft profile.

It’s quite possible that there are quite a few Eagles fans that don’t know anything about Treyvon Hester’s football history. Here’s some of what was said in his 2017 draft profile, courtesy of NFL.com.

Here are a few strengths:

"Has decent power at the point of attack… Shows an ability to shed quickly to make tackles. Good reactive quickness allows for sudden shifts to make tackles against running backs trying to dart through gaps nearby… Keys on his man pulling and will work around the down-block coming his way to scrape and follow the play. Initial quickness laterally is solid. Effective arm over frees him from a block on his edge. Has very active hands as a rusher… Able to maneuver around pass blocks if he gets an early advantage."

Here are some of the weaknesses:

"Plays too straight-legged. Base is often way too narrow in his operation. Plays with inconsistent pad level. Shows issues with contact balance when he’s playing too tall. Inconsistent get-off into the neutral zone. Will drop head into his initial contact and lose sight of the ball at times. Motor will fizzle out the longer a rep lasts. Pursuit effort can run hot and cold. Effort rusher who may not have the skill level to play on pass downs."

2. Here’s what hes done so far as a pro.

NFL.com predicted Hester would go in the sixth or seventh round, and the Oakland Raiders did, indeed, make him a seventh-round selection. In his rookie season, he appeared in 14 games for Oakland, starting one, and he registered 19 tackles and a forced fumble.

He was waived on September 3rd of 2018 and signed to the Eagles practice squad four days later.

3. This probably means that seeing Timmy Jernigan on the field for the Eagles in 2018 seems less and less like a possibility.

When was the last time we mentioned Timmy Jernigan? His absence has left a huge void in the Eagles defensive line rotation, something ‘The Birds’ are hoping Hester can fix.

Fletcher Cox has got to get some help out there along the inner portion of that defensive line.

There’s just one concern. There’s been no conversation whatsoever about Jernigan’s status and when he might return. Is it becoming more and more of a possibility that we won’t see him at all in 2018? Let’s hope not, but we’ll all have to wait and find out the answer to that one together.