Philadelphia Eagles fans are patiently waiting to see if rookie offensive lineman Myles Hinton will make his NFL debut. Hinton, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2025 draft, had his 21-practice window open on Nov. 19, leaving a limited amount of time for him to make his debut or be forced to sit out the entire year.
The former Michigan Wolverines offensive tackle has been on injured reserve since the start of the regular season because of a back injury. In recent weeks, Hinton has been practicing, which is a promising sign that he’s coming along. However, it appears his debut will be held off again, and he may be ruled out for the rest of the season.
On Sunday, Zach Berman of The Athletic reported that the rookie offensive lineman has been downgraded to out for Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Berman adds that the Eagles have until Wednesday to activate Hinton to the 53-man roster. If they don’t, the rookie lineman will spend the remainder of the season on injured reserve.
Eagles Running Out of Time on Myles Hinton’s Rookie Season Decision
For what it's worth, Hinton was a full participant at practice this week, which has been the case since Week 12.
As of right now, the Eagles aren’t in desperate need to play Hinton, as they have Fred Johnson starting at right tackle for an injured Lane Johnson. If Fred Johnson were to get banged up, the Eagles could turn to Matt Pryor, who has experience playing tackle and guard.
The Eagles have not yet placed Lane Johnson on injured reserve, who is dealing with a Lisfranc sprain that he sustained in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions. One has to wonder if Philadelphia is hoping for Lane Johnson to be ready to go in Week 15 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
As for Hinton, the rookie offensive lineman showed a lot of promise in the preseason, playing a lot of snaps (60). In the Eagles’ preseason finale against the New York Jets, the sixth-round pick had a 64.3 overall grade and only gave up one pressure on 26 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Coming out of the University of Michigan, pass blocking was Hinton’s strong suit, as he allowed 17 pressures across 388 pass rushing snaps, which is impressive over a two-year stint. However, don’t sleep on the 6-foot-6, 323-pound lineman in run blocking, as Hinton can get to the second level of the defense and will seek out defenders. That said, it will be interesting to see what the Eagles ultimately do.
Based on what they did with Lampkin, it would not be surprising to see the Eagles do the same thing with Hinton. A redshirt year isn’t the worst thing possible, as he can continue to develop and hopefully be ready to take off and win a backup job in 2026.