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Philadelphia Eagles promote Bruce Hector: 3 Things to know

By Geoffrey Knox

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles communicates with the team as they take on the Indianapolis Colts during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on September 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles communicates with the team as they take on the Indianapolis Colts during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on September 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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On Friday Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson announced the promotion of Bruce Hector from the practice squad to the active roster. Here are three immediate thoughts following that move.

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Bruce Hector already, and he hasn’t even finished half of his rookie season yet. Philly signed Hector as an undrafted free agent in May of 2018, but with so much talent along the Eagles’ defensive line, we already knew he was a longshot to make the 53-man roster.

Well, forget what we thought we knew. Hector played his butt off and made said roster. He made his debut in the 2018 season opener, an 18-12 offensive explosion versus the Atlanta Falcons, but he was given his walking papers less than a month later on October 2nd.

Then, the Eagles re-signed him on October 4th. This time, it was to their practice squad.

Earlier this week, to make room for cornerback Dexter McDougle, the Eagles waived Destiny Vaeao, and early on Friday morning, head coach Doug Pederson announced ‘The Birds’ were elevating Hector from the practice squad back to the 53-man active roster.

There. You’re all caught up.

Here are three immediate thoughts following Hector’s promotion:

1. We have no idea what’s going on with Haloti Ngata or Timmy Jernigan.

We’re still getting the ‘He’s day-to-day’ answer from Coach Pederson every time Haloti Ngata‘s name comes up, and many are starting to lose hope that we’ll see Timmy Jernigan on the field in 2018. To be honest, it’s doubtful that anyone knows what’s going on with either of these injury situations.

That includes the Eagles organization and Ngata and Jernigan.

2. There’s not much to gain from what he did at the collegiate level.

As mentioned, Hector went undrafted in 2018. During his career at South Florida, he tallied 90 total tackles (60 were solo and 28 resulted in a loss), and he produced 18 sacks.

He was voted Second-Team All-AAC in 2017, but that seems like it was forever ago and none of that has anything to do with the NFL game.

All we have to go on is what the coaches have seen in practice.

3. He may not be on the active roster long.

Much of Hector’s elevation has a lot to do with the Eagles’ hole at defensive tackle. While there are quite a few guys sitting on the team’s IR and on the injury report, we’re aware that a few of them should return at some point.

If that happens, the roster will have to be shuffled again, and it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Hector stays. The clock may already be ticking unless he finds a way to channel his inner-John Randle.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens.

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