The Cincinnati Bengals signed Hayden Hurst to fill their TE1 role for the 2022 season. He’s someone who could have a breakout season for the reigning AFC champs this year.
Losing C.J. Uzomah was hard for Cincinnati Bengals fans but the team didn’t just sit back and let the tight end position regress. They signed Hayden Hurst to a one-year deal and while Hurst hasn’t lived up to his first-round hype, he’s someone to watch out for this year.
I already touched on how Hurst is the team’s best-kept secret on the roster, but I’m not the only one who feels like Hurst could put together an impressive season in 2022. Alex Kay of Bleacher Report came up with one breakout candidate for every NFL team and Hurst was his pick for the Bengals.
Kay wrote:
"While Hurst has gotten off to a relatively disappointing start, he’ll have a chance to turn his career around in Cincinnati. The 28-year-old spent the last two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and caught a career-high 56 passes for 571 yards and six touchdowns in 2020.Hurst hauled in only 26 receptions for 221 yards and three scores last season, but the Falcons collectively took a step back during a down campaign. The 6’4”, 260-pound tight end still has a shot at living up to his first-round billing, particularly now that he’ll be catching passes from Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow."
Bengals TE Hayden Hurst dubbed as breakout candidate
It’s no secret that Hurst hasn’t played like a first-round pick but he put together the best season of his career in Atlanta. Kay mentioned those numbers in the blurb listed above.
Had the Falcons not spent the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft on Kyle Pitts, Hurst would have had a chance to replicate those numbers. Pitts, however, became the clear TE1 in Atlanta and it made sense that Hurst’s numbers declined as a result of that.
In Cincinnati, however, Hurst is the starting tight end. The Bengals’ offense doesn’t really call for their tight end to be a superstar but there will be games where he’ll be Joe Burrow’s favorite target. We saw that happen with Uzomah and there’s no reason it can’t happen with Hurst.
Hayden Hurst isn’t getting talked about much this offseason but this is his year to breakout and prove that he was indeed worthy of that first-round draft choice.