Hurst was moved into the rankings on the back end of the site (What we see before we publish our rankings) very early in this cycle after I did a Johnston/Harnett County Deep Dive at the wide receiver position. The two-way athlete nearly made our defensive back rankings, too. He’s a long receiver with great ball skills, able to create space and make things happen with the ball in his hands.

Hurst is a leaner, faster athlete who plays several different positions, but he cracks the list here at the receiver position. Hurst had around 350 receiving yards last season on an offense that at times struggled to put up points. He has plenty of talent, and we’re excited to see what he and the Smithfield-Selma offense can do with most of its key contributors returning next season.

Hurst may end up ranked as a defensive back, rather than a receiver for us in the near future, but he had a breakout season on both sides of the ball in 2025. He has great ball-tracking skills and is a budding route runner. That helps, given he’s explosive, too, averaging over 20 yards a catch in back-to-back seasons.