Ted Hurst III

Through four games the rookie has done the hard part. His 17.3-yard average depth of target ranked fourth among the 85 receivers with 15 or more targets through week 4 of 2026, and he came down with half of his six contested looks, ninth among 45 receivers in that group. One drop on 16 targets. That is a downfield receiver who is winning when the ball finds him.

The problem is everything in front of the ball finding him. He is listed fourth at TB, behind Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan, and the targets have not followed the talent. Sixteen through five weeks, eight catches, one touchdown, and a zero in week 5 of 2026 that lands right where a fourth receiver's week lands. The 5.4 points a game through five weeks runs just ahead of the 4.2 a game we set for him before the season over the 12 games we expected, so the early weeks are playing out the way we drew them up.

He is worth more than the roster spot he occupies today, but only because the spot costs nothing. Behind the five names in his tier sits a 3.4-point drop, and with no ADP on our board for him, he is a free look. He is also 22 years old on opening day and playing under a first-year play caller in Zac Robinson, so the scheme itself is still unsettled, and the weeks 15 to 17 of 2026 stretch against NO, ATL and LAR gives him a late window worth waiting for. We would hold him on a deep bench and let the targets, not the highlight throws, make the next decision for us.