A new season will soon dawn on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and there will be a very different vibe around the team after the retirement of legendary inside linebacker Lavonte David and wide receiver Mike Evans' departure to the San Francisco 49ers during the NFL free agency period.
But there is more optimism than anything else, even with Todd Bowles still in charge as the head coach. That's because the Buccaneers added a few nifty veterans in free agency, bagged a potentially elite young pass rusher in the first round of the draft in Rueben Bain Jr., and addressed the two big departures with Josiah Trotter and Ted Hurst in the second and third rounds.
Hurst was probably a name Buccaneers fans were not really familiar with in the pre draft process, as the speedy wide receiver spent his college days at Georgia State with no fanfare. But with all the praise he is soaking up at rookie minicamp, every Bucs fan is familiar with him now and excited to see what he can do on the field.
Ted Hurst has the size and speed combo
New Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Zac Robinson continued the early hype train for the 6'4" wide receiver. Robinson told reporters at rookie minicamp that he thinks Ted Hurst is one of the few wide receiver prospects these days who profiles well as a true future "X" receiver positionally and "changes the math" against defenses in coverage.
That is very high praise, but when just look at the measurables, you can see why Robinson is saying that about Hurst. Not only is Hurst a big body at around 6'4", but he is also capable of running a forty in 4.42 seconds. That size and speed combination is downright elite.
And while it is reductive to just look at height and long speed, those are the two most important measurables for a true "X" receiver in the NFL. The best "X" receivers are guys who can burn defenses down the field for 50 yards and blow the top off coverages to make big plays on their own and open up the offense for others, but they also have the height to dominate the red zone and win those 50/50 balls down the field to give quarterbacks that margin for error when taking deep shots.
Clearly, Hurst has massive potential, and Baker Mayfield is going to love feeding him those vertical shots.
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