Let's be honest -- Hayden Hurst wouldn't normally inspire his own injury updates piece. However, given the state of the TE position in fantasy football this season (and injuries to Kyle Pitts and Dawson Knox), Hurst might have been slotted in quite a few lineups in 12-team leagues. As such, his "questionable" designation ahead of the Bengals' Sunday Night Football matchup against the Ravens is a cause for concern and could have a legitimate impact on Week 5 start 'em, sit 'em decisions.
We'll continue to update this article with news on Hurst up until the official active/inactive report comes out on Sunday around 6:50 p.m. ET.
WEEK 5 INJURY UPDATES: RBs | Pass-catchers | Higgins
Is Hayden Hurst playing Sunday night Week 5?
UPDATE: Hurst is expected to play, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
UPDATE 2: Hurst is officially ACTIVE.
Hurst (groin) was a surprise "DNP" on Friday after getting in limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday. This usually signifies that a player is more on the "doubtful" side of "questionable," but it's possible that with a veteran like Hurst, it was just a rest day.
MORE SNF: DK lineup | FD lineup
Hurst has been a nice contributor early in the year, catching five-of-eight targets in Week 1 and five-of-seven targets in Week 2 before scoring in Week 4. However, Hurst saw a sharp decline in snaps in Week 3 (38 percent) before bumping up slightly in Week 4 (56), but it was still well below his totals in Week 1 (75) and Week 2 (81). Whether that's related to injury or game flow, we don't know for sure, but it's still not a great sign. Still, Hurst has top-10 potential this week against Baltimore's league-worst pass defense.
WEEK 5 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's worth waiting around for him. If you wait for Hurst, you don't really have any pivot options since the other starting prime-time TEs (Mark Andrews, Darren Waller, Travis Kelce) are all highly owned. You could try your luck with a Bengals' backup (Mitchell Wilcox or Devin Asiasi), a Ravens' backup (Isaiah Likely), or a Chiefs backup (Noah Gray, Jody Fortson), but that comes with a floor of zero and a ceiling of maybe eight.
WEEK 5 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
There aren't a lot of great TEs who are widely available in the early games, but Tyler Conklin (46-percent owned in Yahoo leagues) is the best option. Hunter Henry (vs. Lions), Logan Thomas (vs. Titans), and Cade Otton (vs. Falcons) all have decent matchups and could be sneaky plays, too.
