Ebony Bird
FanSided

The case for and against Ravens trading Hayden Hurst

By Norman Getsinger

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 08: Hayden Hurst #81 of the Baltimore Ravens scores a touchdown during the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on December 08, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 08: Hayden Hurst #81 of the Baltimore Ravens scores a touchdown during the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on December 08, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Baltimore Ravens
CANTON, OH – AUGUST 02: Hayden Hurst #81 of the Baltimore Ravens reacts after a touchdown reception against the Chicago Bears in the third quarter of the Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 2, 2018 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

The case against trading Hurst:

Just this past year the Ravens offense was the best in team history, and the tight end group was a huge reason for the offensive success. All of the tight ends can block, catch passes and get yards after the catch. Hurst, in particular, was a very sure-handed tight end that Lamar Jackson could rely on in clutch moments. Hurst caught 77% of the passes thrown his way and had no drops on the season. Even though he was targeted just 39 times, he came down with 30 passes caught, and a number of those catches were for first downs.

Another reason the Ravens should consider keeping Hayden Hurst is that the Ravens just went 14-2 in the regular season. Letting go of an important piece of the offense could slow it down a little bit and Nick Boyle would be the tight end to step in and pick up the slack.  I love Boyle and think he is an extremely underrated tight end, but he is mostly known as a blocker.

He caught 72% of his passes and had two drops, still very good statistics, but  Hurst edges him out by just a little bit in the pass catching department. While Hurst is not asked to block as much as Boyle, he still has a ton of upside considering he is probably the most athletic tight end on the roster.

During the regular season, Hurst actually posted the fastest speed of any Ravens player (for any one play) on the offensive side of the football. You read that right, he posted a faster speed on that play than Lamar Jackson, Marquise Brown, or any other Ravens wide receiver. Highly impressive stuff considering Hurst weighs about 50 pounds more than Lamar and 100 pounds more than Marquise. What Hurst needs to get better at is getting open more consistently. If the Ravens do decide to keep Hayden Hurst and he develops in the passing game, the Ravens could have multiple tight ends with 50 or more catches during the regular season.

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