Entering the season, Jack Hestera was not a player many talked about.
Sure, Aggie quarterback Spencer Petras briefly mentioned — hesitantly at that — the Charlotte transfer following the final scrimmage of fall camp, but when people talked about wide receivers at Utah State, the names that fell from their lips were Jalen Royals, Otto Tia, Kyrese White and Colby Bowman.
Hestera, listed at 6-feet, 185 pounds, was seen as a depth piece on a team with plenty of skill position players not likely to make that big of an impact. At least not this year.
Things have changed, though, six games into the 2024 season.
Following a breakout performance against UNLV Friday night, Hestera seems to have carved out a significant role for himself in the Aggies’ offense and teased his potential as perhaps the next standout Aggie receiver.
Hestera was arguably USU’s best offensive weapon in its 50-34 loss to UNLV. He finished with a team-high 10 receptions — a career high for him — a career high 152 receiving yards and a touchdown.
By way of comparison, Royals — a projected NFL draft pick — also had 10 receptions and finished with 155 yards and a touchdown.
Time and time again, particularly during the second half when USU outscored UNLV 27-9, Petras connected with Hestera in the middle of the field, Hestera working his way open against the Rebels’ defense over and over again.
Hestera was targeted 12 times in total, second to only Royals, and seemed to almost never be unprepared when passes were thrown his way.
“It felt like every time I looked out there I’d see Jack Hestera,” USU interim head coach Nate Dreiling said.
Dreiling was effusive in his praise of Hestera, noting that the Texas native has a certain quality about him.
“He has unbelievable hands and an unbelievable smile,” Dreiling said. “He’s definitely the cool kid on the block when he walks around here. He brings this swagger around him and constantly makes plays.
“He did an unbelievable job. He’s always running these routes across the middle and you see how tough he is bringing them in. A lot of receivers get little gator arms and pull them back, but he doesn’t care about collisions. He’s going and competing. He’s getting out there and making plays.”
That Hestera has made an impact this early in his Aggie career is notable.
He didn’t get to Logan until fall camp, leaving him with little time to build chemistry with the offense, specifically Petras. It also left him little time to earn the trust of his teammates.
After his showing against UNLV, though, Hestera thinks he has it.
“Obviously when you have a game like that they are going to trust you a little more,” he said, “but me and Spence and the guys on offense have been building that trust since the day I got here. Just cool to see it come to fruit.”
Hestera credited Royals and running back Rahsul Faison specifically for his breakout performance, as the attention they garner from the defense leaves him open and able to make plays.
“Everybody is worried about Jalen and Rahsul so that opened me up today,” he said. “I’m just super grateful I have great teammates.”
Dreiling believes that Hestera has the chance to become the third in a trio of standout offensive playmakers for Utah State this season, along with Royals and Faison. Not just a beneficiary of their presence on the field, but a gravity maker himself.
“With Jalen and Rahsul, there is always going to be a third guy who blows up for us in a game,” Dreiling said. “Those guys get so much attention. This week it happened to be Jack and there is no reason he shouldn’t do it every game from here.”
