Undrafted and unknown, who is Allen Hurns?

No doubt two of the hottest names on the waiver wire Tuesday will be Allen Hurns and Isaiah Crowell. Both are undrafted rookies so unsurprisingly both are unknown commodities, but make no mistake, neither Hurns or Crowell are your typical undrafted rookies.

But the question is, should you burn high waiver wire priorities on either or both or are they this year's Kevin Ogletree (Akbar Gbajabiamila's words not mine!), a guy who in 2012 exploded in Week 1 for eight catches, 114 yards and two touchdowns but would largely be unheard from again.
My quick answer: Invest heavily in Hurns and yes, invest in Crowell as well, but expect that to be the long play.

We'll start with Hurns who went to the U and believe it or not, last year set Miami's single-season record for receiving yards, having passed such luminaries as Andre Johnson and Michael Irvin. Hurns collected 62 catches for 1,162 yards and six touchdowns. (Yes, I know, 1,162 is really the record. I thought it was more as well!) Visual evidence here.

Not only does Hurns have the big-school pedigree and the production, but more importantly he has the size and hands to play at a high level. He's 6-foot-3 and just shy of 200 pounds. I.e. prototypical NFL size ladies and gentlemen.

His overall draft stock was undoubtedly hurt by his measurable athleticism as he ran a pedestrian 4.55 40-yard dash and didn't blow anyone away with any of his other combine results either.

Another cause for concern, and maybe more impactful on his draft status, is a long history of injuries. According to the Florida Times-Union, Hurns tore a meniscus in his knee in high school, a shoulder labrum his sophomore year at Miami, and then a suffered a concussion and a broken thumb his junior year.
The setbacks could have broken many a player, but by all accounts, Hurns is a good kid and was named Miami's team MVP, not just because of his stats but because of his attitude as well.

"Pretty much, the injuries kept me positive because once you go through that, it humbles you in a lot of ways," Hurns told the Florida Times-Union.

And if Hurns was a stock, his arrow would be and has been pointing upwards. He got healthy his senior year, produced, then went to Jags camp, impressed, and as the preseason wore on he got stronger. His efforts were highlighted by a seven-catch, 118-yard effort with a touchdown in his third preseason game.
And even though Jags' running back Toby Gerhart warned the fantasy community to watch out for Hurns (fast forward to the 2:10 mark), we didn't listen. And then Sunday happened and holy smokes.

His first NFL catch was a 34-yard touchdown strike from Chad Henne. His second professional catch was also a score, but this time he adjusted beautifully to a ball thrown hard behind him, spun and fought off TWO defenders to fight his way into the end zone.

Maybe I buried the lead here a bit, but the reason Hurns chose Jacksonville and the reason the rookie is picking up the offense so quickly is because of Jags' offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.

Fisch was Hurns' offensive coordinator at Miami his sophomore and junior seasons.

It's always tough to trust rookie wideouts but the reason I like Hurns is the same reason I like Kelvin Benjamin. It's a passing league and the balls have to go somewhere right? Who else does Jacksonville have? Justin Blackmon is out, Cecil Shorts is banged up and just average anyways, Hurns is essentially competing against fellow rookies Marquis Lee and Allen Robinson. I like them odds.

Add with confidence as an immediate flex starter in 12-team leagues and an awesome bye week, fill-in guy for everyone else with the upside to be a legit WR2.


(nfl.com)