South Carolina Football: Gamecock legend appears to have found a new NFL home

The South Carolina football program has put a lot of tight ends in the NFL over the years. However, only two of those tight ends were picked in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. In 1981, Willie Scott was taken with the 14th pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, and in 2018, the Baltimore Ravens selected Hayden Hurst with the 25th pick as the first tight end off the board that year.

Hurst has battled some injuries and crowded tight end rooms during his career, so when he came to an agreement on a new NFL contract this week, it was with his 5th team. According to a report from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Hurst's meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday went well, and he intends to sign with the team. There still has not been an official announcement of his signing.

Hurst did not have the major impact he had hoped to have with the Carolina Panthers last season after signing a big free agent contract with the team in the 2022-2023 offseason. His season was also cut short by a serious concussion.

With the Chargers, Hurst will battle with Will Dissly for playing time as both players were signed as free agents this offseason. Donald Parham had a strong season finale for the Bolts last season and could factor into the positional battle, as well.

During his South Carolina football career, Hayden Hurst was a star in his two years as a tight end (he had walked on as a wide receiver the year before after moving on from his professional baseball career). He was an All-SEC performer in 2017, but his 2016 campaign was even better. Despite playing just the two years (plus catching 8 balls the year before), Hurst leads all Gamecock tight ends in career yardage.