Highlights & Evaluation: Louisville S Commit Jathan Hatch

Louisville Report breaks down 2024 Louisville football safety commit Jathan Hatch.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program's June recruiting momentum has landed them their fourth 2024 prospect in eight days, as Jathan Hatch has committed to the Cardinals.

Here is Louisville Report's full evaluation:

Prospect: Jathan Hatch
Position: Safety/Athlete
Measurables: 6-foot-2, 190 pounds
School: Biggersville (Miss.) Corinth
Top Offers: Cincinnati, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Tulane
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): N/A

Jathan Hatch's Junior Year Highlights: HERE (Hudl)

Frame: Has a great base frame for someone being recruited to play safety, as he has good height and a very lengthy wingspan. His muscle tone in both his upper and lower body is a bit lean, as to be somewhat expected, but he has plenty of room to add more weight/muscle.

Athleticism: Given his frame, Hatch moves pretty well all around. Whether it's making cuts in man coverage or roaming around in zone coverage, he displays great quick twitch movement and moves relatively fluidly. His strength is about average, but he combats that with good open field speed.

Instincts: Hatch simply has a knack for being at the right place at the right time. While sitting in zone coverage, he does a great job at reading the eyes of the quarterback to determine where the ball is going to go. Using a combination of his maneuverability and somewhat snappy decision making, he is able to quickly close ground and make a play on the ball once he diagnoses the play. He is also able to hold his own in man coverage when taking snaps as a boundary corner. Even though Hatch doesn't show a tendency to press, he combats that with great closing speed to either contest for a PBU or jump the route.

Polish: Hatch is the definition of an athlete. Not only does he switch back and forth from safety and cornerback on defense, he also takes a lot of snaps at running back and some at wide receiver on offense, and returns kicks. No matter the position, he has great elusiveness for a player with a somewhat lanky and wiry frame like his. Going back to his play on defense, he fairs well in both man and zone coverage, especially due to the fact that he has great recovery speed in case he gets bit on a wrong read or juke move. One area that might need improvement is his actual ability to tackle, as his film didn't display many of them, and his form was inconsistent.

Bottom Line: This is a very underrated pickup for Louisville. Hatch already demonstrates a great ability to read and react to defenses, and if he can work on developing physically (mostly as it pertains to strength and power) and fine tuning some fundamentals, he could be in line for a big recruiting rankings boost over the next few months.

(Photo of Jathan Hatch via University of Louisville Athletics)

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