Trade brings defensive line assistance to Arizona Cardinals
By Jim Koch
The Arizona Cardinals shipped safety Rudy Ford to the Philadelphia Eagles and got defensive tackle Bruce Hector in return
There was excitement in the air on Thursday afternoon, when it was announced that the Arizona Cardinals had orchestrated a trade. Two unimpressive performances during the current preseason clearly indicated that the squad’s defensive line needed some help. Did the swap that Cards general manager Steve Keim managed to pull off provide assistance for the defense’s front wall?
The good news is that Arizona did address that particular weakness with the player they acquired during their agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles. The bad news is that defensive tackle Bruce Hector is woefully inexperienced. In fact, the second-year defender has just two NFL tackles on his resume.
The Cardinals had to give up third-year safety Rudy Ford to obtain Hector. It’s pretty much a given that both of the club’s fan bases will feel underwhelmed by who their teams got back in the deal. So why would the Cards and Eagles even bother?
Hector, who signed with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent last year, played in eight games as a rookie. The 24-year old attended South Florida University, and was a 2nd Team All-AAC performer in 2017. The 6’3, 296 pounder recorded 38 tackles and seven sacks from the nose tackle position as a senior that season.
Ford, a sixth-round draft pick of Arizona in ’17, has appeared in 23 contests (one start) as a professional. The 24-year was buried behind Budda Baker, D.J. Swearinger, Josh Shaw, Deionte Thompson and Jalen Thompson on the organization’s depth chart. Ford has registered nine tackles during his two pro campaigns, and had made most of his impact on the Cardinals special teams.
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It would be ludicrous to expect Hector to contribute much for the franchise this coming fall. Free agent defensive linemen such as Corey Liuget, Domata Peko and Bennie Logan would be much better options. Perhaps Hector will step up and surprise us all, but it would probably be a good idea for the Cards to make contingency plans at the spot for 2019.