


Tennessee speedster wide receiver Jalin Hyatt is coming to New York to take the top off defenses in the NFC East.
“I feel like I’m probably the best deep-threat receiver in the draft,” Hyatt, 21, said after the Giants picked him at No. 73 overall in Friday night’s third round. “What the Giants got is a dynamic playmaker, an explosive playmaker.”
GM Joe Schoen charged up from pick No. 89 to get Hyatt, sending the L.A. Rams a fourth-round pick at No. 128 to make the move.
More accurately, head coach Brian Daboll “executed his first trade,” Schoen said, by texting Rams head coach Sean McVay directly to initiate the conversation.
When they landed Hyatt, the Volunteers wide receiver promptly received a text message from Daniel Jones.
“Are you ready to go?” the Giants quarterback wrote.
No doubt about it, Hyatt said.
“I can already tell he’s the leader of the team,” Hyatt said of Jones. “By the time I get up there, that’s one of the first dudes I’m gonna meet with just to understand him, understand what he likes in games, what are his best throws, what does he want me to do for him. When you build that connection with the quarterback, you can go as far as you wanna go.”
Schoen admitted he looked into trading up in round two before taking center John Michael Schmitz, as well, when word around the league was that the Giants were sniffing around to possibly trade up for Schmitz or a receiver.
In the third round, after being thankful Schmitz fell to him in the second, he didn’t want to risk losing Hyatt and regretting it.
“It’s hard,” Schoen said. “Patience I wouldn’t say is one of my strengths, and I often get tested this time of year, because it’s like anything: if you want it and you have the resources to get it, go get it.
“And I’ve been on the other side of that,” Schoen said, “when you’re sitting there kicking yourself for not doing something, and you don’t like the subsequent result from not doing what you could have done, and you were OK with what it was gonna cost you.”
The Giants had Hyatt high on their radar especially after Schoen scouted Hyatt in person last October in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Hyatt went off for six catches, 207 yards and five touchdowns in a 52-49 Volunteers win over the Crimson Tide.
“He can roll,” Schoen said. “I was at that Alabama game, and I was a little bit late. So I was on the field for the first half, and you could really feel his speed. He’s a legit 4.3.”
In 12 games last season as a junior, Hyatt exploded for 67 catches, 1,267 yards and 15 TDs and won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver. He is the kind of speedster who often appears to be gliding as he runs.
Schoen said adding speed on all sides of the ball was a priority this offseason, not just on offense.
“We’ve upgraded the speed in general,” he said. “That’s definitely something after watching our team last year, we felt we needed to get faster in all three phases.”
Of course, there were reasons Hyatt slipped into the third round despite his production: he essentially had one college season of production while playing the slot in a spread offense.
There are also questions about whether his slender frame will hold up in the pros.
Hyatt assured that while he played at 175-176 pounds last season, however, he already has worked himself up to 188-189 pounds with offseason training and plans to play at 190 pounds as an NFL rookie.
“I want to play at 190 this year, and that’s something I’m now feeling comfortable around, being in the weight room and doing work,” he said.
Schoen cited the success of Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith at 6-foot, 170 pounds as evidence that a player’s frame does not necessarily prevent success. Smith was the 10th overall pick of the 2021 draft out of Alabama.
“He’s still young,” the GM said. “I think there’s a similar body type down the road that we play twice a year that’s a good player and was drafted much higher … I think he’ll be fine.”
Hyatt said he doesn’t mind that he went in the third round anyway.
“I love it when I’m counted out, and the Giants took a chance on me,” he said. “I was never picked first in anything. I’m grateful for the Giants giving me an opportunity. I just can’t wait to show what I can do.”
Schoen also felt good about his information on Hyatt from Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel.
They’ve known each other since Heupel was Oklahoma’s QB coach in 2011-14 and Schoen was that area’s Miami Dolphins scout. Heupel also was Central Florida’s coach when the Buffalo Bills drafted UCF wide receiver Gabe Davis in the 2020 fourth round.
“[Hyatt] has run some of the routes we run here,” Daboll said. “You can see a little bit, like with Gabe, how it might translate.”
And Hyatt assured he will be able to “change the game.”
That’s why they were so aggressive. That’s why they took him. That’s why Jones and Hyatt are so excited to get started.
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