Is Jalin Hyatt Is Running Out of Time to Save His Giants Career?

An NFL team can never have enough speed, especially on offense. And so the New York Giants, looking to add big-play potential to a passing game that in 2022 successfully completed 11 of 31 big-play passes of 200+ air yards, decided to trade up in the third round of the 2023 draft for Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt, a raw but speedy player whom the team hoped would become their big-play threat.

Hyatt, who showed glimpses of intrigue as a rookie in 2023 when he caught a career-best 23 out of 40 pass targets for 373 yards (a +4.3% catch rate over expected per NFL+), has seen his role shrink in the offense ever since, with many of the issues that held his game back showing very little improvement via coaching.

Hyatt is getting one more chance this summer to take a step forward, but overall it’s probably fair to say that the Giants’ gamble has badly backfired on them.

JALIN HYATT, WR

Height: 6-0
Weight: 185 lbs.
Exp.: 4 Years
School: Tennessee
How Acquired: D3-’23

2025 in Review

New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hyatt only appeared in seven games last season, those when injuries hit the guys in front of him. He ran a total of 109 routes, averaging a career low 1.6 yards of separation according to NFL+. And he finished with five receptions on 14 pass targets for 35 yards, two yards after the catch.

One of Hyatt’s biggest problems–and one that was a concern when he came out of college–was his route running. In short, his routes were sloppy, and as a result, we suspect this contributed to difficulties in tracking the ball in flight.

Per PFF, Hyatt has been on the end of seven interceptions over his career, and last year alone, he appeared to be the guilty party on two of Jaxson Dart’s interceptions when he slowed down while the ball was in the air.

In terms of the physical aspect of the game, Hyatt, who has yet to catch an NFL touchdown, only forced one missed tackle in his career, that coming as a rookie. And he holds a 50% success rate in contested catches.

With a career 30.4 target rating, it’s not hard to see why the Giants have been either drafting over him or bringing in veterans to potentially give them that serious threat.

Contract/Cap Info

Hyatt is in the final year of his four-year rookie deal and has a $1.789 million cap hit for the coming year.

If he doesn’t make the roster–and that’s a very real possibility which we’ll get to in a minute–the Giants would save $1.517 million on their 2026 cap while being charged only $272,785 in dead money.

2026 Preview

Hyatt, like all his returning teammates, was given a clean slate by head coach John Harbaugh.

But it’s quite telling that with Malik Nabers still a question mark as he recovers from an ACL injury, and with Darius Slayton having been sidelined all spring while recovering from a sports hernia injury, the team still went out and added Odell Beckham Jr and Juju Smith-Schuster, both of whom appeared ahead of Hyatt based on the offseason reps observed.

Hyatt is a good kid who works as hard as he can. Perhaps past coaching has been part of the problem with his career not getting off the ground. That said, he doesn’t give the team anything on special teams, which is yet another potential strike against his chances of making the roster.

While we can appreciate Harbaugh’s willingness to give Hyatt another chance, we suspect it’s going to take a lot for him to be a part of the 53-man roster this fall.

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