Jalin Hyatt Mystified About His Lack of Deployment in Giants Offense

Hyatt saw a significant decrease in his deployment in his second NFL season.

Sep 26, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, US; New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (13) warms up during pre-game at MetLife Stadium. / Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When the New York Giants traded up in the third round of the 2023 draft to select wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, the move was widely praised, given the young receiver’s explosiveness and playmaking ability.

"It was a good player that we liked, and that was kind of sticking out on our board, so at a position where we thought he could help us at receiver," general manager Joe Schoen said after the team made the selection official. 

"He ran 4.3 and some change (in the 40-yard dash), and you could feel his speed on film. I mean, that's legit. We spent some time with just a player we liked, and we thought the value was good for what we had to give up to go get him."

Fast-forward to the present day, and Hyatt has been something of an afterthought in the Giants' offense. After catching 23 balls on 40 targets for 373 yards as a rookie, Hyatt’s second season saw him only get 19 targets, of which he caught eight balls for 62 yards.

He has also yet to record a receiving touchdown, and his overall career reception success rate in terms of picking up the minimal required yardage on any given down is a disappointing 42.4%.

In short, that’s not a good return on investment for a young receiver who, although having a bit more of a learning curve coming out of the Vols offense, was unable to nudge veteran Darius Slayton out of the picture in training camp last summer.

Hyatt, who has yet to record an NFL touchdown catch, now appears to face an uncertain future as he approaches his third NFL season.

“Yeah, disappointed,” Hyatt said of his 2024 NFL season. 

It’s not that Hyatt lacks talent, but there have been questions about his size and ability to do the intangibles, such as blocking. 

Slayton has proven to be the better blocker of the two, and if you’re looking for an example, go back to the recently completed game against the Eagles in which Hyatt tried to throw a block on a screen but instead of accomplishing the objective, he got run over.

There have also been some questions about his awareness while running patterns. On his lone pass target in that game, a deep out, Hyatt didn’t appear to react quick enough to quarterback Drew Lock's back shoulder throw, which resulted in Hyatt overrunning the ball and the ensuing interception.

Hyatt seemed to bite his tongue when asked why his career has not materialized as hoped.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We got a lot of problems that we gotta fix and that's where  I'm gonna leave it.”

Although Hyatt wasn’t willing to air his grievances, he did say that he intended to seek answers from general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll during the exit interview processes that the team held on Monday.

Schoen seemed to hint at the quarterback play as a reason for Hyatt’s disappearing act this season. But the receiver saw a drop in his snap deployment from 51% in his rookie season to 33% this year, the snap deployment being a coaching decision.

“I still got a lot of confidence in Jalin,” Schoen said. “Some of it comes down to his skill set, utilizing his skill set.

"He's a vertical guy who can take the top off and run. He's an explosive playmaker. So, part of it starts with getting somebody in here that can hopefully utilize his skill set.”  

Fellow receiver Wan’Dale Robinson believes that the more work his locker room neighbor is willing to put in, the better he will become.

“I'm confident in Jalin,” he said. “Obviously getting another offseason under his belt with this one and being able to run routes and just do everything like a pro. So I think he's gonna do just fine if he has to step into that role.” 

Hyatt has no idea what the future holds for him as far as his Giants career is concerned, but regardless of where he is in the spring, he’s just going to do what he can.

“I just gotta get back here and get back to work,” he said.

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