Anonymous NFL Coach Calls Buccaneers Draft Pick 'Biggest Sleeper'

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could have gotten a great player with their third round pick.

Georgia State wideout Ted Hurst (WO24) during the NFL Scouting Combine | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed to shore up their defense in a big way during the 2026 NFL Draft, and they certainly did — four of their seven picks were defensive players, and of those four, three (Missouri's Josiah Trotter and Miami's Rueben Bain and Keionte Scott) could start for Tampa Bay sooner rather than later.

That being said, the Buccaneers also went offense three times over the course of the weekend. That includes guard Billy Schrauth in the fifth round and tight end Bauer Sharp in the sixth round, but the most notable of those picks was Georgia State wide receiver Ted Hurst, who the Bucs took with the No. 84 pick overall in the third round.

Hurst is a big-bodied, speedy wideout who could be the X receiver the Buccaneers are now missing after Mike Evans' departure. And according to one anonymous NFL WRs coach, the Bucs could have landed a steal at the No. 84 pick.

Anonymous NFL WR coach says Hurst was 'biggest sleeper' in draft

American Team wide receiver Ted Hurst (7) of Georgia State lines up during American Senior Bowl practice | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman wrote a list of his observations after the draft, and among those observations was an anonymous NFL wide receivers coach claiming that Hurst could have been the "biggest sleeper" in the draft — that is, until he started gaining traction before the draft started.

“I love Ted Hurst,” the anonymous receiver coach said of Hurst. “I would say he’s the biggest sleeper in the draft, but he blew up like a month ago.”

There's plenty of reason why Hurst was a fast riser. His athleticism is seriously impressive — his Relative Athletic Score of 9.90 is the 41st highest ever, and he ran a 4.42 40-yard dash despite his 6-4 size. Additionally, he had a strong Senior Bowl showing against premier competition, proving that he could play against excellent players despite encountering a lower pool of them in the Sun Belt while playing for Georgia State.

Ted Hurst was drafted in round 3 with pick 84 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.90 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 41 out of 4196 WR from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/v6G6ikxoWO pic.twitter.com/gMwOfYHN9j

— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 25, 2026

It's unknown if Hurst will crack the starting lineup right away for Tampa Bay, as his route running and ball tracking skills could use some refinement at the next level. But he could be a weapon if developed well, and Bucs wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon is known for doing just that in Tampa Bay.

Hurst was picked with the No. 84 pick, just as Chris Godwin was in 2017. If he can turn out as good as Godwin did, it would be a big win for the Bucs and general manager Jason Licht.

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