Hayden Hurst

Falcons TE Hayden Hurst caught 3-of-5 targets for 38 yards in Sunday's Week 1 loss to the Seahawks.

Fantasy Impact

Hurst couldn't get going in the loss. He also didn't have very many opportunities to do so either, only drawing three targets while Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Russell Gage each went for 12 apiece. Hurst will look to get on track in Week 2 against Dallas.

Hayden Hurst will be an every-down TE for the Falcons, per Kelsey Conway of AtlantaFalcons.com.

Fantasy Impact

Hurst is reportedly headed for an every-down day role, and is expected to be the Falcons’ third option on offense behind Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. To give some perspective on this, former Falcons’ tight end Austin Hooper was involved in 75 percent of the snaps in 2019. “Hurst is more of a factor in the run game than former TE Austin Hooper because of his size and strength and experience with blocking in the run game in Baltimore,” added Conway. “He’s very athletic and has great hands, made a nice TD catch from Ryan the other day in traffic.” Hurst is gaining a lot of helium during draft season and his fantasy stock continues to rise. The 26-year-old hauled in 30 receptions on 36 targets for 349 yards and two touchdowns across 16 games for the Ravens in 2019. Hurst is a fantasy TE1 and currently 10th among all tight ends in the latest expert consensus rankings.

In a Tuesday Zoom session Matt Ryan said new Falcons tight end Hayden Hurst is one of the "fastest and most athletic tight ends I've ever played with."

Fantasy Impact

It's notable praise considering Ryan has played with both Tony Gonzalez and Austin Hooper. The latter had a great season with Atlanta in 2019 and leaves behind a plethora of opportunity on this pass-first Falcons offense. Hurst, a first-round pick by the Ravens in 2018, was acquired this off-season once the Falcons let Hooper sign with the Browns. He's a very interesting late-round option at fantasy football's most frustrating position.

New Falcons TE Hayden Hurst told ESPN’s Mina Kimes that for the last four weeks he has been driving back and forth from Jacksonville to Atlanta to throw with his new QB, Matt Ryan.

Fantasy Impact

Hurst told Kimes, “That’s helping me a lot. that’s really going to pay off during training camp.’’ Hurst takes over for Austin Hooper as the number one TE in Atlanta as Hooper has moved on to Cleveland. Last season in Baltimore, Hurst went for just 30 receptions for 349 yards and two TDs as a backup to Mark Andrews. In Atlanta, he’ll be the clear TE1 in an offense that provided Hooper with an average of 102 targets per 16 games over the last two seasons. Hurst is currently ranked #16 in FantasyPros expert consensus rankings, but if he can produce similarly to how Hooper did in Atlanta, we could be looking at a top-10 finish for Hurst in his first year with the Falcons.

The Ravens have traded Hayden Hurst and a 2020 fourth round pick to the Falcons in exchange for a second round and a fifth round pick.

Fantasy Impact

With Austin Hooper signing with Cleveland earlier, the Falcons traded for Hurst to be the team’s leading tight end. Hurst will see a significant boost in value, where he will join one of the most pass-heavy offenses in the league. Hurst had 30 catches for 349 yards and two touchdowns across 16 games for the Ravens in 2019.