Bengals HC Zac Taylor gave his assessment on new TE Hayden Hurst. “Hayden has a really good catch radius,” Taylor said. “He has got good burst. He has got a good understanding and feel for some of these concepts in the red zone. He’s a really good weapon for us on the field.” Hurst will fill the role left by C.J. Uzomah, who ended 2021 with 49-493-5. Consider Hurst a streaming option in opportune matchups.
The Bengals agreed to a 1-year deal with TE Hayden Hurst. It's a solid landing spot for the former 1st-round pick. Hurst figures to step into C.J. Uzomah's role, which produced a 49-493-5 line in 16 games last season. Uzomah finished 19th among TEs in PPR points while seeing 12% of Bengals targets. Hurst will likely struggle to reach every-week TE1 status without injuries to Cincinnati's WR corps. But he should bring intriguing upside as a spot-start option in lineup-setting leagues and is a fine TE2 target in best ball.
Falcons TE Hayden Hurst (ankle) is out for Thursday night's game vs. the Patriots. Hurst has played 52% of Atlanta's offensive snaps this season but averaged just 2.8 targets per game, so there's not much fantasy impact here.
It was easy to write off Falcons TE Hayden Hurst after the team drafted Kyle Pitts 4th overall and declined the 5th-year option on Hurst's rookie contract (making this the final year on his deal). But Matt Urben of Falcons Wire says to "look for Hurst to be a featured player" in the offense this year, which is expected to deploy multiple TEs as part of the plan to replace WR Julio Jones' production. We'll have to see just what Hurst's role looks like, but we saw HC Arthur Smith use Jonnu Smith and Anthony Firkser simultaneously with last year's Titans. The biggest draw to Hurst is an ADP that will find him undrafted in most fantasy football leagues.
Tori McElhaney of The Athletic reports that Falcons TE Hayden Hurst has shed 18 pounds vs. last year's playing weight (down to 250). Hurst -- who had his 5th-year option declined by the team this offseason -- still appears headed for a significant role in the offense. McElhaney writes: "Because of [Arthur] Smith's scheme, there are just as many opportunities for Hurst as [Kyle] Pitts. And if training camp is any indicator, we'll see both of them on the field together a lot." That's worth keeping in mind as you navigate reserve TE territory in best-ball drafts. Hurst sits just 27th among TEs in current FFPC best-ball ADP.
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