After drawing Mike Evans comparisons in camp, the third-round pick struggled against Kansas City, recording zero catches and a costly penalty that killed the offense’s opening drive.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Ted Hurst really started turning heads once training camp started.
The third-round pick is trying to earn a significant role as a rookie, despite the Bucs already having a WR room that is both talented and deep. Every day, Hurst was standing out with great plays. He has impressed throughout camp and has even started earning comparisons to Mike Evans, which is possibly the best compliment any Bucs receiver can receive.
In Tampa's opening preseason game, a 24-16 victory over the New York Jets, Hurst was very noticeable. He finished with two catches for 19 yards (on six targets) and should have caught a touchdown, but a defender ripped the ball away.
With Baker Mayfield resting and Jake Browning ruled out with a back injury, Hurst's preseason debut came with Connor Bazelak at quarterback. Bazelak couldn't get the offense going while playing the first half. Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels came in for the second half and looked terrific, thoroughly outplaying Bazelak.
With both Mayfield and Browning playing in Tampa's second preseason game, expectations for Hurst were high, especially with better QBs to get him the ball. With the Bucs' top two receivers, Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr., not playing, Hurst was expected to have an even bigger opportunity for a successful outing.
Unfortunately, that is not what happened.
An early 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was the only thing that made Hurst stand out all game. Pewter Report listed him first in its article about the most disappointing Bucs against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Penalty, No Catches For Hurst
While he didn't play much against Kansas City, Hurst failed to make any positive contributions for the Bucs when he was on the field. As Pewter Report notes, he didn't record a catch, and the aforementioned penalty killed Tampa's opening drive.
"Hurst had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Bucs’ first drive of the game after slapping Chiefs corner Mansoor Delane in the back of the helmet. It ruined all momentum that the offense had after rushing for a first down. Being so far backed up, the Bucs played conservative throwing the ball and weren’t able to recover from it.
"The rookie third-round pick did not make a catch in the game and had just one target after being targeted six times in the preseason opener. There’s been a ton of hype around Hurst in training camp and expectations weren’t met tonight. In fairness, he didn’t get a lot of playing time. With that said, the bad penalty plus no production puts him on this list."
Hurst was unable to continue building the success he had been having in camp practices in a game setting. Instead of standing out in any positive way, the only memory anyone will have of Hurst from this game is him hurting his team by taking a dumb, immature penalty.
A solid showing from Hurst would have helped his chances of carving out a significant role in Tampa's offense as a rookie. Hurst has plenty of talented receivers ahead of him on the depth chart, and a pair of receivers behind him had very good games against the Chiefs.
Final Thoughts
Hurst not being able to continue the upward trajectory he has shown throughout camp was definitely a bummer. The rookie must show better composure on the field, as his penalty instantly killed the offense's first drive right after getting a first down.
The rookie has one more preseason game to redeem himself before the regular season begins. The Bucs take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this Friday at 7:30 PM.
Hurst will need to have a much better showing if he wants to begin the season on a positive note and in his coaches' good graces.
