Is Ted Hurst Climbing Into 'Can't-Pass-on-Him' Territory for the Vikings?

Ted Hurst is rapidly evolving from a draft-day secret to a household name. The 6-foot-4 wide receiver from Georgia State has reportedly received one of Minnesota's 30 official invitations for the annual pre-draft, top-30 visits at TCO Performance Center in Eagan.

How long Hurst has to wait to hear his name called during the April 23-25 NFL Draft is to be determined, but if the Vikings really want him, they might not be able to wait very long. If NFL scouts, coaches, and general managers are thinking about Hurst the way longtime NFL analyst Greg Cosell is, they might have to pull the trigger and draft him in the first round.

"I think he's one of the most intriguing wide receiver prospects in this class. Size, speed, stride length. That's his profile. Obviously, there will be questions about the level of competition, but you're talking about a long, dynamic receiver. He was a weapon at all three levels of the defense," Cosell said on the Ross Tucker Podcast.

Hurst put up solid numbers—127 catches for 1,965 yards and 15 touchdowns—in two seasons at Georgia State, doing so as the Panthers went a combined 4-19, routinely getting pummeled by superior competition, both inside and outside of the Sun Belt Conference. But, according to Cosell, the game tape doesn't lie.

"Look, what I also say about players like this: If he showed the same traits profile with this kind of production in a Power 4 conference, we'd be talking about him as a first-round pick, without question," Cosell said. "He had a few too many drops. That needs to be cleaned up. But he also caught the ball very easily on the move, seamlessly transitioning to run after catch. This guy, to me, has the size and length and traits profile to develop into a boundary X at the next level."

“There's a receiver whose tape I REALLY, REALLY like… Ted Hurst from Georgia State…”

“If he went to a P4 we’d be talking about him as a first round pick WITHOUT question…”@GregCosell shares one of his hidden gem WRs in the 2026 NFL Draft:@Gametime pic.twitter.com/Kw2C3Kg8xw
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) March 27, 2026

Hurst's Relative Athletic Score (RAS) at the NFL Scouting Combine was extremely impressive, ranking 38th out of 4,017 wide receivers over the last 40 years. He received "great" scores for size, explosion, and speed.

Ted Hurst is a WR prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.90 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 40 out of 3926 WR from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/9qPApgQOaP pic.twitter.com/njjZi7gxnG
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) March 21, 2026

A great RAS score doesn't always translate to NFL success. For example, the former college stars whose RAS scores were similar to Hurst's include Tyrell Williams (Western Oregon, 2015), Zay Jones (East Carolina, 2017), and Denzel Mims (Baylor, 2020).

Williams had a decent career marred by injuries. His best season came in 2016 with the Chargers, when he caught 69 passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns. Jones has been average throughout his career, and Mims played three seasons after the Jets took him in the second round, and he's now playing in the United Football League.

Whatever happens with Hurst, he's already been on an unheralded journey. He was a zero-star recruit coming out of high school in Savannah, Georgia, and the only Division I offer he received was from Valdosta State. In the 2024 transfer portal, 247Sports ranked him as the 211th-best wide receiver. Now he's likely going to hear his name called in the NFL Draft, making everyone who underscouted him in the past look silly.

How much the Vikings like him is an unknown, but the fact that they've reportedly invited him for a top-30 visit is an indication that they're seriously interested.

From our viewpoint, it would be shocking if Hurst went in the first round, much less the second round. There are a lot of good receivers in the draft, including likely first-round picks Carnell Tate (Ohio State), Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), and Makai Lemon (USC). Those three seem to be the consensus top three in the draft, with the likes of Denzel Boston (Washington), Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana), Germie Bernard (Alabama), Zachariah Branch (Georgia), KC Concepcion (Texas A&M), and Chris Brazzell II (Tennessee) also viewed by the majority as top-10 talents.

All of them should be intriguing for the Vikings, who don't have a clear plan behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. The only other receivers on the roster who sniffed the field last season were rookies Tai Felton and Myles Price, who combined for three receptions (Price had zero).