04-15-2022, 10:52 AM
(04-15-2022, 09:47 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Aside from his drops in 2020, I don't believe he's had any. At least according to pro football reference.
This is less about him being sure-handed though, and more about his ability to get yards.
In college, his average YPR was 12.8.
In the NFL, his average YPR is 10.4.
He's just not in the same caliber as guys like Andrews (13.2 NFL), Pitts (15.1), or even OJ Howard (14.6).
He's going to be a steady, reliable guy who will get solid production, but to think he's going to magically ascend into the upper echelon of receiving TEs all because he's with the Bengals now is just wishful thinking. There's always a chance it happens, but it's a low probability.
A TEs YPR depends more on how he is used than how great of an athlete he is. Obviously the guys who are better athletes are used as deeper receivers more often, but no TE playing with Chase, Higgins, and Boyd is going to have a big YPR or a ton of targets either.
I think Hurst will probably have better numbers than CJ did last year simply because of "inflation", i.e. the Bengals will throw for about 500 more yards this season. But he is not going to break out into an 800+ yd TE or average over 13 per catch as long as our big 3 WRs are healthy.
