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Factoid

Hayden Hurst

Will he be the significant Baltimore tight end?

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
TeamNoYardsTD
Philadelphia239250019
Kansas City215262014
Baltimore214174010
Indianapolis207215716
Washington199227214
New England177256620
Tennessee177201915
NY Giants175165811
LA Chargers172199422
Seattle169191723
Houston16817249
Minnesota164155416
Tampa Bay160192324
Dallas148144510
Buffalo14516279
Detroit14115538
Carolina14018626
Cleveland136157710
Pittsburgh132140010
Oakland12914257
Jacksonville127123712
San Francisco125170513
Cincinnati122127514
Green Bay12013105
Atlanta119143614
Chicago118121511
New Orleans11512888
Miami111107610
Arizona11012969
Denver10312487
LA Rams10211236
NY Jets806894

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

Fantasy Index