Let’s look at why the speedy wide receiver isn’t getting the ball
The New York Giants second-year wide receiver Jalin Hyatt received an opportunity for an increased role without first-round star Malik Nabers. Hyatt played 48 snaps in Week 5 at Seattle — two plays shy of half his snaps on the season. Hyatt’s most snaps before Week 5 was 15 in Week 1.
Hyatt was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He recorded 23 catches on 40 targets for 373 yards in his rookie season. Wide receiver coach Mike Groh worked extensively with Hyatt all offseason, and praise for the second-year wide receiver was ubiquitous through the offseason and into the training camp.
Malik Nabers currently owns a league-leading 38.2% target share — insane! Wan’Dale Robinson currently owns a 28.1% target share, which is also insane, and ranks eighth in the league. The Giants’ offense is so concentrated one would think they’re studying for the BAR.
Corny jokes aside, the distribution of targets, combined with Darius Slayton leading the wide receiver room in total snaps, is one reason Hyatt has just three targets and zero catches on the year. Still, that doesn’t answer the question about Hyatt’s targetless Week 5 performance on 28 passing plays.
Hyatt did have an impact on Sunday against Seattle. Sure, he didn’t earn a target, but he did draw two penalties on the defense — one on a third-and-6 stop by Seattle late in the second quarter. That defensive hold against Riq Woolen extended the Giants’ drive and led to three Giants points. Moments like that don’t make the stat sheet but are crucial in the victory; here are those two penalties:
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Where’s Hyatt?
I believe in Hyatt’s talent, but he’s buried on the depth chart and failed even to earn a target against Seattle. Funny enough, he cooked Riq Woolen on the line of scrimmage on the mirrored nine routes outside the numbers that resulted in Darius Slayton’s 41-yard gain:
Watch the top of the screen; Hyatt wins outside, and Woolen’s angle, combined with Hyatt’s speed, provides easy vertical separation for the young receiver. There’s nothing too fancy about Hyatt’s release; he just ran into the space provided and accelerated. The question is — would the field safety (Julian Love, No. 20) get over the top quickly enough for Jones to deliver the pass? This is by design from Seattle, which makes Jones’ decision to throw to Slayton much more impressive. Either way, Hyatt’s acceleration popped on this play, and he clocked in at 19.4 MPH.
Hyatt’s route tree isn’t diverse. He ran many vertical routes, some bent to the inside, and others flattened toward the sideline and away from the safety (when the Giants saw Cover 2). He did uncover against Woolen on the first throw of the game that was a sack by Seattle due to Jones tripping over Andrew Thomas’ foot:
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Hyatt is at the top of the numbers, toward the top of the screen. He gets inside of Woolen, who glues to his hips, slants inward to the hash before feeling the defender’s leverage and breaking back out toward the numbers. By the time Hyatt gets any separation, Jones is on the ground. If Jones didn’t trip, he may have been able to extend the play and find Hyatt for a nice chunk gain to start the game, but that could also be wishful thinking.
Hyatt’s next two “routes” were designed screens to Eric Gray. It’s noteworthy, though, that he threw a great block that allowed Gray to pick up a first down on third-and-17:
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Hyatt did a great job isolating his defender to the inside, allowing Gray to get outside into space. A few plays later on first-and-10, Hyatt was the clear-out speed option for a well-designed shot to Tyrone Tracy Jr. that did not fool Seattle:
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Hyatt runs the deep clear out to remove the deep half safety. Darius Slayton dropped the pass, but the design was for him to occupy the outside defender, isolating Tracy Jr. against a linebacker on a wheel from the backfield. All this from pistol-sidecar, with a Wan’Dale Robinson fake to the opposite side of the field. Seattle was disciplined, but I do love this play call. It’s the second time in two weeks that the Giants designed a deep passing play for Tracy Jr. near the red zone.
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Hyatt’s next route was a deep dig against Cover-0. He was one-on-one against a safety, and Hyatt quickly ate into the cushion. However, Jones diagnosed the blitz, saw the safety’s distance from Theo Johnson (84), and wisely delivered the football to the tight end. Seattle blitzed on 35% of their defensive snaps against the Giants, which doesn’t include simulated pressure. Rarely will those targets go to Hyatt because most of his initial route stems go seven yards or beyond.
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Here’s another blitz later in the second quarter where Hyatt was to the boundary side in a stack. He fired off the line of scrimmage and exploded out of his break; he would have toasted safety Rayshawn Jenkins, but Jones threw to the field side Darius Slayton, who had space against the cornerback.
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Hyatt ran a drag route late in the first half on first-and-10. Seattle was in Cover 3 with a simulated pressure. If the Giants had received man coverage, Jones might have looked toward Hyatt, but Jones saw the second-level defender and attempted to check it down to Tracy Jr. in the flat. This was the only route Hyatt ran near the line of scrimmage.
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Hyatt angled outward from a stack before breaking back to the inside on third-and-five with 29 seconds left in the first half. The defensive back sticks to Hyatt’s back. Hyatt saw Tre Brown (22) on the next third down (third-and-5) early in the second half. Brown was draped all over Hyatt, and it looks like a possible defensive hold that went uncalled:
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Robinson dropped this dart from Jones. Hyatt was contacted as he went into his break; once he broke, he created immediate separation against a cornerback the Giants frequently picked on throughout the game. Unfortunately for Hyatt, he rarely saw Brown and faced Woolen for much of the game instead.
Final thoughts
Jalin Hyatt drew a more difficult matchup than his teammates in Week 5. Hyatt wasn’t creating a lot of separation against Woolen. He played on 28 of the Giants’ 39 pass plays. He was blocking on three of those plays. Here are several snaps from Hyatt where the defender was essentially in his hip pocket:
The Giants were not scheming plays for him, and he acted more as a clear out option on several routes. Hyatt’s skill set is most aligned with Darius Slayton’s role. Slayton is a far more polished wide receiver. That doesn’t mean Hyatt can’t develop, nor does it mean Hyatt has no value. His speed is still an asset for the offense, which proved crucial on Sunday despite the lack of statistics.
Hyatt clocked 21.4 MPH on the GPS tracking data last year. For reference, Tyreek Hill’s fastest speed this season is 20.8 MPH. Hyatt is an ancillary piece of the Giants’ offense — that doesn’t mean he’s cemented there. If New York keeps attempting to push the football down the field, Hyatt will benefit, leading to points for the Giants. He is still competing his backside off as a blocker and drawing penalties due to his speed; he just hasn’t arrived yet, as the preseason hype suggested, and some of that is due to circumstance.
