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While the Cincinnati Bengals were busy remaking their offensive line in a hurry, they also brought in a new weapon at the tight end position for Joe Burrow.
The Bengals added former Falcons and Ravens tight end Hayden Hurst after losing C.J. Uzomah to the New York Jets. Hurst spent the first two seasons of his career in Baltimore after they took him with the 25th pick of the 2018 NFL draft. He was traded to Atlanta in 2020 thanks to the emergence of TE Mark Andrews.
After a decent first year in Atlanta (56 catches, 571 yards, six touchdowns), Hurst watched the Falcons draft TE Kyle Pitts at No. 4 overall in 2021. Pitts cracked the 1,000-yard mark as a rookie while Hurst managed just 221 yards and three touchdowns on 26 catches in 13 games.
Now he gets a chance to rekindle his spark in Cincinnati with Joe Burrow and he is very excited for the opportunity, even going as far as saying how “refreshing” it is to have an “authentic” coach like Zac Taylor.
Hayden Hurst makes a point about how “refreshing” it is to deal with an “authentic” coach like Zac Taylor #Bengals
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) March 18, 2022
Hurst also says the match with Burrow and his wide receivers “re-lights my passion,” and says, “I think everything is going to come together in my fifth year.”
“People forget how quick I am. I was the 25th pick in the draft for a reason,” said Hurst. “I showed what I could do in a starting role in Atlanta in 2020. C.J. is an incredible player. He did tremendous things in Cincinnati. I know I’m stepping into a void. I think I’m more than capable. I showed that in 2020.”
Hurst also praised Taylor very much and also seemed to throw some shade to the Falcons organization.
Via Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson:
Hurst loved the straight pitch from head coach Zac Taylor after he says he was promised things with the Falcons that didn’t happen. He says Taylor reached out to one of the tight ends in Atlanta last year, Lee Smith. It appears that Smith crossed paths with Taylor’s brother Press when they played at Marshall a dozen years ago.
“He kind of sang my praises to him and Zac ended up calling me and it was a pretty quick process,” Hurst said. “(Taylor) is extremely authentic. That’s hard to come by in this business as I’ve found out in my four years in the NFL. It’s very refreshing to hear. Very transparent.”
Hurst sounds very ready for the fresh opportunity and could be an intriguing piece of the puzzle as the Bengals look to return to the Super Bowl, especially as the rest of the AFC has gotten in a huge arms race, with the Browns acquiring QB Deshaun Watson, the Broncos acquiring QB Russell Wilson, the Raiders landing WR Davante Adams, the Chargers adding edge Chandler Jones and the Bills signing edge Von Miller, just to name a few.
The AFC is going to be a gauntlet. But the Bengals are prepared for that gauntlet after their “refreshing” during free agency.
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