Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Ted Hurst is a jaw dropping talent, and if he went to a school like Alabama or Georgia instead of Georgia State, there is a good chance that his athletic profile and upside would have been in the spotlight more and the Buccaneers would have never had the chance to steal him away in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Even though the Buccaneers were being linked to a few of the top wide receiver prospects in the first round, Bucs fans will be very happy the team landed defensive stars at the outside and inside linebacker positions in the first two rounds of the class to fill out a defense that badly needed star power, with Rueben Bain Jr. at No. 15 being a particular highlight for Jason Licht's incoming class.
The Hurst pick makes them even more happy and feel less like they missed out on someone. At 6'4", 204 pounds with a 40 time of 4.42, Hurst has one of the best size and speed combos of any player in the draft class, and there are already people around Tampa Bay wondering if he is the true heir to the "X" receiver position that the legendary Mike Evans left behind.
Replacing Mike Evans won't be easy
In a very interesting piece for Athlon Sports, Buccaneers analyst Luke Easterling drew some very interesting parallels between the profiles and career beginnings of Ted Hurst and former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens, one of the mot gifted and productive players in NFL history.
Owens followed in the footsteps of Jerry Rice and did as good of a job as anyone could have expected in that 49ers offense with players like Jeff Garcia and Tim Rattay under center. He then nearly led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl and produced some fine displays in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. Like Hurst, he was a size and speed demon who came from a small school and had all the tools to make any catch or turn any recepetion into a highlight reel touchdown.
Early days for Hurst and all, and since he has not even taken the field yet in a real game, as Easterling says, you can't truly compare Owens and Hurst to each other. It Isn't fair to either. But the skill sets and career parallels with Hurst replacing a San Francsico 49ers bound Mike Evans are eerily similar. Hurst is one of the biggest rookies to watch.
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