Ted Hurst NFL Draft Profile - Rookie Film Analysis

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Positives

• Tall, fast and athletic; height and broad jump rank in the 91st percentile (or better) all-time among receiver prospects, while his 40-yard dash is in the 80th percentile.
• Unusually quick feet (for a bigger receiver) off the line of scrimmage, although he can overdo it at times.
• Uses tempo well and displays an impressive ability to sink his hips for a taller receiver, giving him the chance to create separation on comebacks and/or out-breaking routes.
• Excellent ball tracking ability and remarkable contested-catch success (63% in 2024, 59.3 in 2025).
• Showed significant progress with his ability to do something after the catch in 2025, increased his missed tackles forced from eight to 18 and yards after catch per reception average from 3.8 to 5.3.
• Posted nearly 2,000 yards receiving in two years (for a Panthers' team that went 4-20) despite receiving highly questionable quarterback play and facing defenses that often sent safety help in his direction.

Negatives

• Not exactly rail-thin, but he will likely need to add 10-15 pounds of muscle if he hopes to remain somewhat durable in the NFL.
• Like most taller and long-legged receivers, his speed is more of the build-up variety; he also does not stack defenders on deep throws as often as he should.
• While he was able to separate on occasion, it is slightly concerning how often the throws in his direction were contested (27 such targets in both seasons at Georgia State).
• Will need to develop his release package over the next year or two; very little evidence of him powering through physical corners off the line.
• His drop rate in two years at Georgia State was 9% or higher.
• Although he did apply himself when asked to block, there are limited reps on tape; he was often asked to run off his man on rushing plays instead.

Bottom Line

Hurst likely landed on the radar of most hardcore college football fans last summer when The Athletic's Bruce Feldman put the First-Team All-Sun Belt player on his College Football Freaks List. That athleticism is the reason he warrants Day 2 consideration in the NFL Draft later this month; there just are not a lot of humans walking the earth who have his combination of size, speed and explosiveness. (Note the above mention of Christian Watson, who is his closest comp based on Combine metrics.) Hurst answered the questions he needed to about stepping up in competition when he performed as well as he did during Senior Bowl practices in January, although he did enough in two games against Vanderbilt (7-128-2 in 2024 and 7-71-0 in 2025) to address those concerns.

It is easy to be seduced by the Watson-like athleticism, and some team should be willing to take the plunge on the second day of the draft. While he may be raw, he flashes quick feet and more flexibility than most receivers his size have. Although Hurst's game in the NFL - at least right away - will likely be a field-stretcher, he has no reservations about working the middle of the field. In other words, he was not a one-trick pony in college. He will not be drafted as high as Watson was (No. 34 in 2022) in part because he does not separate nearly as easily, nor does he maintain his speed as Watson did at North Dakota State. (Watson also played with better quarterbacks at NDSU and for much better teams during his college years.) Considering that it will likely take him a while to beat NFL press and put on the muscle necessary before a team can even dream of making him an X, Hurst should begin his pro career as a Z (to allow him more free releases) so he can focus on the things that make him special right now. The deck is usually stacked against small-school receivers and history is littered with 6-foot-4 (or taller) receivers who have failed to make an impact at Hurst's current weight (or lower), but one of the small details that separates him from the Marquez Valdes-Scantling's of the world is that his game is about more than just size and speed. Although the floor is low if he gets asked to do too much too soon, there is enough to work with here that a highly skilled position coach could turn him into a viable X receiver down the road.

This article originally appeared on The Huddle: Ted Hurst NFL Draft Profile - Rookie Film Analysis