The Indianapolis Colts were forced to trade wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. or straight-up release him this offseason because the team couldn't afford his bloated cap hit. Finding a replacement for him is needed, but not at the top of the team's priorities for the 2026 NFL draft.
Indy has several good wideouts still. The team re-signed Alec Pierce in free agency while already having Josh Downs and tight end Tyler Warren on the roster. The trio would be good enough to win on its own, but one cannot have enough depth.
This is where potentially choosing wide receiver Ted Hurst on the final day of the draft comes in. Indianapolis is scheduled to have a 30-visit with the receiver, though they are among nearly a third of the league to do so. The Georgia State product has a lot of high-end physical attributes, but some drawbacks, too.
Indianapolis Colts' replacement for Michael Pittman Jr. might be found on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL draft
He is 6'4" and 210 pounds and recently ran a 4.42 40-yard dash. At his size, that is certainly fast enough to scare opposing defensive coordinators. Add him to the explosive Pierce and the sure-handed and high-end quality of Warren and Downs, and general manager Chris Ballard would be grabbing a winner.
The issue is that Hurst would have a huge learning curve early in his NFL career. He didn't face consistently high-level opposition in college, and he wasn't tasked with needing to run-block much. This means he would need to make a jump to taking on NFL defensive backs and becoming successful enough to earn reps.
That isn't to say Hurst can't do it, but no one has seen him have to show the ability to do so. He has the size, but he struggled a bit with 50/50 balls at Georgia State. He will need to learn to do better with whatever NFL team he ends up with.
Lots of players are able to run fast with straight-ahead speed and maybe be a threat on post patterns, but the good wide receivers develop a full route tree and have the football IQ to understand where they need to catch passes in space. Hurst likely can do that, but he hasn't needed to, and this is one reason he could fall to Day 3.
The positive part is that while the Indianapolis Colts don't have a first-round draft pick this year or next (those were traded to the New York Jets in return for cornerback Sauce Gardner last season), Indy does have five picks on Day 3 (one in rounds 4-6, and two in the seventh round). If available, the team should spend a selection on Ted Hurst and never look back.