After losing Austin Hooper during the NFL’s 2020 free agency period, the Atlanta Falcons traded a second-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for tight end Hayden Hurst.
Originally drafted in the first round of the 2018 draft, Hurst had been replaced on the Ravens’ depth chart by tight end Mark Andrews. The Falcons were happy to take Hurst off of Baltimore’s hands, and the former South Carolina Gamecock finished his first season in Atlanta with 56 catches for 571 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
It was a career year for Hurst, but the Falcons found themselves with the No. 4 overall pick in 2021 and selected Florida tight end Kyle Pitts.
Drafting Pitts wasn’t necessarily a slight to Hurst as much as it was about securing a generational talent at the position. Keep in mind, 2021 was also the year the Falcons hired general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith to replace Thomas Dimitroff and Dan Quinn.
Hurst would serve as the No. 2 tight end to Pitts that season, and as you expect, his production dropped significantly. In 2020, Hurst was involved in 85 percent of all passing plays. That percentage dropped to 38 percent when Pitts arrived in 2021.
Since Hurst was a former first-round selection, he had an option available for a fifth year. When the Falcons declined to pick it up, Hurst became a free agent and eventually signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 7, the Falcons will take on the Bengals and it’s safe to say Hurst has been looking forward to playing against his former team.
Hurst told ESPN’s Ben Baby that “playing” was all he wanted to do while in Atlanta.
Since joining the Bengals, Hurst has been involved on 87 percent of all passing plays — which was higher than his peak percentage in 2020 with the Falcons. Hurst is also on pace to set new career highs in each major receiving category. Through six weeks, Hurst has 23 total receptions for 178 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
These numbers compare favorably to Pitts, who has just 13 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown this season. However, Pitts has been playing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of Atlanta’s Week 5 loss to the Buccaneers.
On Sunday, we’ll see which former first-round tight end gets the last laugh.
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