Ted
Hurst.
Ted
Hurst.
Georgia State· 6'4"· 206 lb· 4.42s 40
"Big-bodied X with Division II roots, back-to-back All-Sun Belt seasons at Georgia State and a Senior Bowl week that finally validated the ball-tracking and contested-catch tape."Pre-draft read
Boundary X who wins with length, timing and adjustment more than separation quickness. He aligns primarily to the field side, sinking into the stem on comebacks and slants and using a subtle head fake to open up back-shoulder throws. He is a ball tracker with a wide catch window, extending off his frame on fades and posts and adjusting to underthrown balls without stopping his feet. He plucks cleanly with strong hands, pinning the ball on contested reps rather than trapping it.
His release plan improved through his senior year; he now mixes a hop release with a swipe to defeat single press. He shows sneaky yards after the catch on hitches thanks to long strides once he clears the first tackler. He is a willing stalk blocker who finishes on the perimeter.
The Buccaneers' offensive scheme is a pass-heavy Air Raid variant that uses spread formations and downfield passing concepts, emphasizing vertical routes and outside releases against off-coverage.
Year 1: rotational outside receiver, red zone target and occasional perimeter blocker. Ceiling: productive downfield threat.
Pro-style offense relying on tight windows and quick-twitch route breaking, as his lack of quick separation would limit his effectiveness.
Hurst's length, ball skills, and deep-threat speed align well with the Buccaneers' vertical passing game, minimizing his route-running limitations early in his career.
Ted Hurst — Full Georgia State Highlights
Career cutup at Georgia State: contested catches, back-shoulder fades and vertical wins from his two All-Sun Belt seasons.
2026 Senior Bowl Highlights
Mobile week reps that validated the level jump — wins against Power Five corners in a scripted pro-style route menu.
Steve Smith Sr. Film Breakdown — Fit in Tampa
Post-draft film breakdown from a Hall of Fame receiver walking through the release, stem work and catch radius.
This boundary receiver is an evaluation centered on his athletic traits. He is projected as a size/speed X with real ball skills, suggesting his development runway had just begun. His 6-3⅞, 206-pound frame, 32⅝-inch arms, and 4.42 forty time at the Combine supported the physical profile. His strong Senior Bowl week, where he tracked deep balls and won against Power Five corners, further solidified his projection to the next level.
He began his collegiate career in Division II at Valdosta State, posting 1,027 yards over two seasons. Upon transferring to Georgia State, he immediately became the program's primary target, achieving 56 receptions for 961 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2024, followed by 71 receptions for 1,004 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2025, earning consecutive All-Sun Belt selections. This rapid ascent from a sub-package player to a top receiver indicated a high ceiling.
The primary concerns for evaluators were the lower level of competition and a route tree still heavily reliant on verticals and hitches. However, the consensus warmed after his Senior Bowl performance. He was ultimately drafted in the third round, 84th overall, by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, representing a calculated bet on his tools and rapid development.
- 01
Ball tracking and body control
sees deep throws early, opens his frame late and adjusts to underthrown balls without decelerating into the catch point.
- 02
Contested-catch hands
pins the ball off his frame on fades and back-shoulder throws; senior tape at Georgia State is full of high-point wins over smaller corners.
- 03
Combine testing confirmed tape
4.42 forty at 206 pounds with a 36.5-inch vertical and 11-3 broad confirmed the vertical profile evaluators trusted from the film.
- 04
Senior Bowl week validated the jump
held up against Power Five corners in Mobile, made a viral one-handed grab and looked comfortable in a scripted pro-style route menu.
- 05
Late-arc developer
went from Division II sub-package piece to two-time All-Sun Belt No. 1 target inside two years, suggesting the ceiling is still ahead of the production.
- 01
Level of competition
bulk of the production came in the Sun Belt after two years at Valdosta State, so scouts had to lean heavily on all-star week to project the traits up.
- 02
Separation quickness is average
doesn't win with quick-twitch out of breaks, needs the stem and timing to be right to create the throwing window against man coverage.
- 03
Press release plan still developing
long-armed corners who initiate contact can rewrite his stem and force him to gather; the swipe-hop counter is inconsistent.
- 04
Route tree is narrower than the resume
heavy diet of verticals, hitches and back-shoulder fades; comebacks and option routes rounded off, needs to sink his hips at the top.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.42sp50
- Vertical
- 36.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 135inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Georgia State | 12 | 56 | 961 | 9 |
| 2025 | Georgia State | 12 | 71 | 1004 | 6 |
| Career | — | 24 | 127 | 1965 | 15 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Cameran BrownQB17%
- TJ FinleyQB11%
- Christian VeilleuxQB9%
#2 of 20 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.25 (p55) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Long-strider vertical X with real ball tracking and blocking value but a limited route menu, carving out a decade-long complementary starter role.
Boundary-plus-big-slot Buc who won with body control, contested catches and timing routes rather than elite twitch — the aspirational fit inside the same building.
Small-school big-frame speed X whose tools flashed in a rookie window but never survived the drop in production once defenses game-planned him.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context — Hurst's path was the opposite of blue-chip. He signed with Valdosta State out of Sol C. Johnson High in Savannah as a lightly recruited two-sport athlete, posted 1,027 receiving yards over two Division II seasons, then transferred up to Georgia State and immediately became the program's No. 1 target: 56/961/9 as a junior (a school single-season record for touchdowns) and 71/1,004/6 as a senior, earning back-to-back All-Sun Belt honors. A 6-3⅞, 206-pound frame with 32⅝-inch arms and a 4.42 forty at the 2026 Combine, plus a Senior Bowl week where he made a viral one-handed grab and held up against Power Five corners, moved him from Day 3 flier to solid Day 2 receiver.
NFL fit — Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Tampa spent the 84th pick on a receiver profile the building already knows how to develop: a big boundary target with ball skills who complements the existing route tree rather than replaces it. The fit is clean — line him up as an X on early downs, isolate him on back-shoulder fades and skinny posts, and let him grow the tree from the outside in while the veteran room absorbs the higher-leverage snaps. The pull is the size/speed/hands combination and the Senior Bowl proof of concept. The risk is the level jump and a route tree that still needs to be built past verticals and hitches; if the release plan against NFL press doesn't come, the target share stays scripted.
Retrospective — At 84, this is a projection built on tools plus one clean all-star week rather than four years of Power Five tape. The ceiling is a real starting boundary X with contested-catch juice; the floor is a WR4 whose production never scales past the scheme reps he's handed. On the third-round curve, buying the trait stack from a small-school rise with Combine and Mobile receipts is a defensible swing.