It's tough for rookie tight ends to make an impact; we know that much. The breakout season Evan Engram had last year was kind of an anomaly. But the depth chart at the position in Baltimore is wide open, so first-rounder Hayden Hurst catching a touchdown and drawing another end-zone target last night gets him on the fantasy radar. He's in the right spot for fantasy success.
Over the last two seasons, only two teams have completed more passes to tight ends than the Ravens. The answers won't surprise anyone: Philadelphia and Kansas City, who have two of the best tight ends in the league. But there's Baltimore at No. 3, doing that with Benjamin Watson, Nick Boyle and Dennis Pitta. Just maybe Hurst will be the one to lead the way this year.
TEAM TIGHT ENDS, 2016-2017 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | No | Yards | TD |
Philadelphia | 239 | 2500 | 19 |
Kansas City | 215 | 2620 | 14 |
Baltimore | 214 | 1740 | 10 |
Indianapolis | 207 | 2157 | 16 |
Washington | 199 | 2272 | 14 |
New England | 177 | 2566 | 20 |
Tennessee | 177 | 2019 | 15 |
NY Giants | 175 | 1658 | 11 |
LA Chargers | 172 | 1994 | 22 |
Seattle | 169 | 1917 | 23 |
Houston | 168 | 1724 | 9 |
Minnesota | 164 | 1554 | 16 |
Tampa Bay | 160 | 1923 | 24 |
Dallas | 148 | 1445 | 10 |
Buffalo | 145 | 1627 | 9 |
Detroit | 141 | 1553 | 8 |
Carolina | 140 | 1862 | 6 |
Cleveland | 136 | 1577 | 10 |
Pittsburgh | 132 | 1400 | 10 |
Oakland | 129 | 1425 | 7 |
Jacksonville | 127 | 1237 | 12 |
San Francisco | 125 | 1705 | 13 |
Cincinnati | 122 | 1275 | 14 |
Green Bay | 120 | 1310 | 5 |
Atlanta | 119 | 1436 | 14 |
Chicago | 118 | 1215 | 11 |
New Orleans | 115 | 1288 | 8 |
Miami | 111 | 1076 | 10 |
Arizona | 110 | 1296 | 9 |
Denver | 103 | 1248 | 7 |
LA Rams | 102 | 1123 | 6 |
NY Jets | 80 | 689 | 4 |
You can't draft him too favorably. Baltimore still has Boyle (who started last night) and third-rounder Mark Andrews, another catch-first tight end (who didn't play). Nothing special about Hurst's touchdown catch, either.
But a couple of end-zone targets in a short period of time has to count for something. If I were drafting today, I'd be thinking about making Hurst a late-round selection.
--Andy Richardson