Steve Smith Says Ted Hurst Catches The Football Like Larry Fitzgerald
April 25th, 2026
Larry Fitzgerald-like?
Joe doesn’t know if Bucs fans are being trolled here or not. But apparently it’s legit.
Iconic Panthers and Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith, who has something of a history with the Bucs, and not all that good, was raving on his podcast (with co-host James Palmer) that Bucs’ third-round pick Ted Hurst, the 6-4 “freak” from Georgia State, was one of his favorite wide receivers in the draft.
Palmer then acknowledged Smith had been talking Hurst up for weeks.
Hurst reminds Smith of Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald. That’s damn near trolling, calling a guy from a small school on the same level as one of the greatest receivers who ever played.
Smith then demonstrated why. He showed highlights of Hurst and in one catch, Hurst made an adjustment mid-stride, changed his route and caught the ball with his hands. A”Fitzgerald catch” is what Smith called it. What is that? A receiver makes a significant adjustment while still maintaining body control and still catching the ball with two hands.
You can see Smith’s breakdown of Hurst in the video below. Joe often watches Smith’s receiver breakdowns (prospects and current NFL players) on YouTube and he puts in a lot of homework.
It’s pretty wild that Smith is glossing a Bucs receiver like that. Smith has to be up to something, doesn’t he? Actually not, the guy is in love with Emeka Egbuka, even after his slide late last season.
Ted Hurst is my FAVORITE sleeper in this years WR class. Small school, BIG potential. I see some Larry Fitzgerald in his film š«£ Bucs fans should be excited for this one #nfldraft #wearethekrewe pic.twitter.com/wYj2J6i2wN
— Steve Smith Sr. (@SteveSmithSr89) April 25, 2026
April 25th, 2026 at 7:54 am
Excited to see Hurst! Should be a great fade route for Baker.
April 25th, 2026 at 7:59 am
I think Hurst has the potential to be something special, however it’s going to be tough for him to break the line-up this season unless there are several injuries among WRs.
April 25th, 2026 at 8:08 am
Love the Hurst pick. Clearly BPA, which I am all for.
But what about the Bucs holes? Will Rd 4 bring us a CB? Maybe a beefy D-lineman? Or maybe we get that very much needed backup O-line guard?
a lot of holes
April 25th, 2026 at 8:08 am
Godwin EE n JMac are better slots n Zs, Tez is just a depth player, Sills n Hurst are our X wrs
April 25th, 2026 at 8:15 am
Hurst is tall, but in his tape you can see a few different examples of how he functions in and creates space with his speed. Get’s on top of CBs manned up on him in a hurry and he’s in my opinion, he’s a more fluid athlete than Mike was as a rookie.
I want to know how long Hurst has been on WR Coach Bryan McClendons’ radar as coach used to be at UGA and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear this isn’t the first time their paths are crossing.
I’ll like the Trotter pick more depending on whether or not we go after another LB in-draft. As far as UDFAs go, I’m almost certain we’ll bring a few into rookie camp. Wouldn’t mind pairing Trotter with UDFA Nikhai Hill-Green. Still, Shad Banks 4 $LB.
April 25th, 2026 at 8:15 am
If Mayfield has no time to throw the ball like last year, then Hurst will be perfect for the Bucs because 40% of his receptions were for 0-9 yards or behind the line of scrimmage.
Hurst seems like a good project who may develop in 2-3 years – 3rd round pick?
April 25th, 2026 at 8:15 am
That is certainly a GREAT endorsement!
April 25th, 2026 at 8:23 am
Another great draft pick
April 25th, 2026 at 8:24 am
Definately love Steve Smith. He calls it as he sees it. If he likes you he says so, if he doesn’t he says so. He doesn’t give the Bucs to many compliments, so you know he is truthful when he does. Glad he sees the potentional in this guy. Let’s hope he is correct and makes us forget the Bucs should have taken a shut down corner. Maybe there wasn’t one. Sure hope Steve is on it, cause offensively the Bucs with this defense are going to need to score a lot of points
April 25th, 2026 at 8:34 am
Heās still pretty skinny.
He needs to add 10 pounds of muscle and get much stronger.
But I love this pick.
We now have 4 young WR.
Hope we draft 2 more corners. I want 4 young corners too!
April 25th, 2026 at 8:35 am
For once I hope Steve Smith is on point with his take. A guy who can contest catches would be huge. Day 3: still need a CB, OL depth and perhaps that big D-lineman from FSU.
April 25th, 2026 at 8:39 am
Tired legs by week 9.
April 25th, 2026 at 8:50 am
I like the pic.
Don’t quite understand all the whinging from some of you experts here on JBF…
Looking at the players drafted slightly before and after this kid – I don’t really see anyone to get excited about except the IOL from Oregon who was drafted a few picks later.
If Hurst can develop into even a mediocre WR it should be considered a solid pick.
April 25th, 2026 at 8:53 am
His stride and the way he reacts to the ball looks a lot like Randy Moss. He was a gangly type guy coming out and had no hype till his Sr. year, although this guy has generated no hype. But he was productive without the QB Moss had throwing to him. Not saying he’s Moss caliber just looks like him but wouldn’t it be nice.
April 25th, 2026 at 8:53 am
This guy is legit. I honestly am surprised he was there still in the 3rd round. The lack of experience against bigger schools is what probably pushed hin to the 3rd. Great pick up!
April 25th, 2026 at 8:57 am
“His stride and the way he reacts to the ball looks a lot like Randy Moss.”
A full yard a step at full speed. Which makes it look fast, but not look fast at the same time because his gait is elongated.
Was a pretty good basketball player in HS from what I’ve read. Played shooting-guard, just like Randy did.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:01 am
Larry Fitzgerald ? or Maurice Stovall?
3 Interior OLinemen were picked right after Hurst.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:07 am
I seriously doubt Smith watches GSU football or any Sun Belt games.
Funny I read this guys hands are sus. What are his receipts?
April 25th, 2026 at 9:14 am
First we compared him to Mike, now Moss. Come on. No one in the history of JBF has watched GSU, including me and I watch a lot of CFB. I now live in ATL and local sports talk never mentions GSU or Ted Hurst.
Lots of hype for him. This was a desperate move to replace a rare dude. We are set a receiver WO Hurst. Jmac is a riser, he needs more PT.
Pregnon or Scott was the pick.
The CLOSEST thing I have seen recently to that dude is Ducec Robinson. Now he will be a player in the NFL.
Im not a need guy but I dont think Hurst wss the best pick for us at that time.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:22 am
Kid sure showed up at the Senior Bowl. Lot of buzz about him during that week. We’ll see what we got when the pads go on. We’ve been here before with WRs that look great until they get up vs the big boys. I sure did like what I’ve seen and read about him before we drafted him.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:33 am
“I want to know how long Hurst has been on WR Coach Bryan McClendonsā radar as coach used to be at UGA and I wouldnāt be surprised to hear this isnāt the first time their paths are crossing.”
Coach McClendon & Hursts’ HC from GA State Dell McGee, worked at UGA together
April 25th, 2026 at 9:35 am
Licht drafts stud WR.
Heās a stud.
The LB pick still sucks.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:44 am
Tough call, these draft picks. Other than a few super talents, you never really know what you have until they hit the field. You can measure the intangibles, like speed, strength and view their college highlights, but until they can come up with a device to measure heart and the mental drive to excel when the game is on the line, the Crapshoot Factor will always be in play.
And that includes players who give great interviews. Increasing the BS factor can taught by any decent agent.
So letās watch em play.
Only thing with me is draft philosophy. Iām a NEED GUY where many, like Bowles, believe in the best player available.
āHey, why do you have six great wide receivers and nobody who can block and get sacks?ā
āCause they were the best players available when we were on the clock!ā
April 25th, 2026 at 9:50 am
Our new X Receiver/WR1 !!!!
This kid is a baller.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:52 am
Josh Hayes is our dime corner, come on.
April 25th, 2026 at 9:54 am
Give the WR room he’s coming into, they’ve got some time to develop him. If he’s coachable and can be turned into a good route runner, Licht will be charged with Grand Theft for getting him in the 3rd round.
April 25th, 2026 at 10:08 am
My only issues with him are that he is a bit lean but I think he can put some NFL weight on. I think 10 lb of muscle is not out of the question and at 215 lb at his size would make him more dynamic off the line of scrimmage against press coverage. Up until now he has great footwork to do so but now will be able to be more physical at the line of scrimmage.
The only other concern was the level of competition he was against. However he showed up big time at the senior bowl against some of the best so that is less of a concern. I really think in time he will be our Mike Evans replacement. I am not saying he will ever be Mike Evans but will share the same role as the guy who you can throw jump balls to. I would actually argue he is more fluid in his routes than Mike ever was.
Teams are going to have a hard time defending our offense. Assuming our line is healthy with all of these weapons. Additionally we now have a young core of McMillan Egbuka and Hurst with Tez Johnson to carry on the mind told once Chris is gone as well.
I would like to see one of our fifth round picks used to trade up very early in the 4th. If we could somehow come out of this draft with Kyle Louis also as well as a defensive tackle and a guard then I think we will have hit every important position.
I suspect we will end up signing a veteran corner in free agency around the time roster start cutting down now that they have signed new draft picks. Rasul Douglas is out there and I think would be a very good veteran for this roster who can still play.
April 25th, 2026 at 10:22 am
I am not concerned about his play weight nearly as much as his play strength.
BTW, I see lots of things putting him under 200lbs but he I think he is a little above that.
He is worth the gamble IMO. Especially asking him to play the Z receiver.
But let’s be clear, there are so many wide receivers picked in the NFL who no matter how much they are coached up, don’t learn the NFL traits on how to get off the line of scrimmage cleanly. The NFL is littered with WR’s who fail at that 25% of the time. And taking that into context — if that happens that often — the QB and coach will not rely on you when designing plays and throws.
In college, many elite wide receivers win purely on superior athleticism. They are faster than the cornerbacks they face, so they can round their routes or simply outrun people.
NFL cornerbacks are almost as athletic and much more violent at the line. If a receiver cannot use hand fighting, and footwork to get off the line, the timing of the play is destroyed.
IMO, he’s got that high ceiling but also a pretty low floor.
April 25th, 2026 at 10:31 am
Greg Cosell did a video calling Ted Hurst a top five receiver.
April 25th, 2026 at 10:33 am
Great sleeper pick!!!
Go Bowles!!!
April 25th, 2026 at 10:54 am
The reason Iām optimistic about this breakdown and donāt consider it ātrollingā, is 1. Steve Really seems to know what heās talking about when breaking down WRs (heās a borderline HOF himself) and seems to take great pride in his analysis. 2. He did this breakdown WEEKS ago, prior to even knowing that Hurst would be drafted by his *Beloved* Bucs. From what I see of the kid, Iām excited about his potential. Reminds me of a George Pickens/AJ Green
April 25th, 2026 at 10:58 am
Face, meet palm.
Lotsa drinkin happening, starting now.
April 25th, 2026 at 10:59 am
Yea watched alot of analysts rave about hurst,I like him too,but also like Chris bell,any thoughts
April 25th, 2026 at 11:04 am
Stop with the Larry Fitzgerald stuff, Hurst may end being a great receiver, but Fitzgerald was the best receiver in his draft class, and a canāt miss prospect because his college production matched his athletic potential. Larry was already a great route runner with unreal hands when he was drafted. Hurst has work to do, I hope he gets coached up, because Georgia state isnāt coaching up wr like Ohio state.
April 25th, 2026 at 11:16 am
Hurst will be ready to go ball out by Week 1.
It’s a new offense for everyone, so he won’t be that far behind everyone else in terms of learning the system and he’s our most athletically-gifted and tallest/fastest WR now.
WR1/X Receiver starting Week 1.
April 25th, 2026 at 11:22 am
He just looks different imo and Iām with it
April 25th, 2026 at 11:24 am
So will every other WR in the league playing against our starting CBs and Trotter in Coverage.
Funny how Bucs glaring degenseive weaknesses remain after night 2
April 25th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
Sleeper pickā¦.perfect for the Bucs. Their best skill is sleeping on the field during a game.
April 25th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
Beer me