Jalin Hyatt 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Tennessee WR
Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee: 6’0”, 180 pounds.
Jalin Hyatt was a top-200 overall recruit in the 2020 class, despite being listed at a miniscule 153 pounds. Hyatt put up very similar stat lines in his first two years with the Vols, combining for just over 500 yards and four touchdowns on 41 catches.
He broke out in 2022, when UT lost now-Bears receiver Velus Jones Jr. to the draft and their top guy coming into the season in Cedrick Tillman missed time. Altogether, Jalin Hyatt caught 67 passes for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns, making him a unanimous All-American and winning him the Biletnikoff award, given to the best receiver in the country.
Jalin Hyatt scout report: Strengths
+ This guy has legit track speed and his 100- and 200-meter rally were faster than 98% of D1 wide receivers. That combination of blazing speed and ability to track the ball down the field makes him a dangerous deep threat.
+ He does a great job of creating space towards the post. He threatens the outside with the vertical stem and then takes his speed up a notch as he sticks his foot in the ground to bend towards the middle, often combined with giving a nod towards the sidelines.
+ When matched up with guys one-on-one in the slot who give him a respectable cushion, he still has that extra gear to gain a couple of steps on them. You regularly see him split the corner and safety, who end up trying to bracket him in quarters coverages.
+ There were plenty of vertical option routes, where Hyatt displayed the ability to make the right decisions on the fly.
+ His speed was also used regularly to create space for fellow receivers on wheel routes (off motion), although Hendon Hooker hit him for several big plays when defenses didn’t pass him off accordingly as well.
+ With the way he can threaten vertically, he can create plenty of space as he snaps off routes and gains easy access towards the middle of the field, where he can just run away from guys.
+ Has the ankle flexibility to roll through cuts and turn his body fluidly.
+ Put on about ten pounds in the 2022 offseason to be able to beat press-coverage and break tackles more effectively, which we did see come to effect in his breakout campaign.
+ Shows no fear of attacking the ball at its earliest point and extending away from his threat, even though he knows a hit is imminent as he goes over the middle.
+ Unlike many deep threats, Hyatt tracks the ball and extends his arms accordingly, to not miss an opportunity to cash in (only five drops across 72 catchable targets last season).
+ Consistently was able to deal with screen passes and hitches being thrown over his head and having to adjust his approach.
+ Catching the ball on the run, Hyatt can blaze past anybody and defeat pursuit angles along the way.
+ Uses swipe-downs with his arms effectively to knock away the reach of would-be tacklers.
+ Despite still certainly lacking some size, Hyatt does not shy away from mixing it up with bigger corners and safeties.
+ His big moment of 2022 was scoring five touchdowns against Alabama on six catches (for 207 yards) in Tennessee’s huge upset win, running by several future pros.
Jalin Hyatt scout report: Weaknesses
– Not the most refined route-runner, who wins largely on a vertical plane (seams/slot fades/posts and wheels). The NFL may look at him as a pure vertical slot.
– There’s a little too much sauce when Hyatt’s running pretty simple in- or out-breakers underneath, and he doesn’t stop as well as he starts.
– A lot of his production did come from coverage busts and his 17 screen passes caught.
– Has only faced 62 total snaps against press coverage in his career, and on those of those he was put in stacks, where they would cross-release anyway.
– Hasn’t show much of an ability to win at the catch point through contact. He only had three contested catches in 2022, although that is largely about him running away from people.
Jalin Hyatt scout report: Grade
Jalin Hyatt’s role at Tennessee was almost comical. It was all vertical routes out of the slot, hitches and screens. Unfortunately, we don’t have any agility numbers on him (yet), because the ability to stop and turn are what I question in terms of how his future team can expand his route tree when he gets there.
You love the speed and ball-tracking, but at this point he’s a pretty one-dimensional receiver. What he provides right now can certainly be valuable for his future offense, using that speed horizontally and vertically, but how high his draft stock may rise will be dependent on what coaches can envision him to become. To me that’s not quite worthy of a first-round pick.
Grade: Early second round.
You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Noah Sewell (LB), Oregon; Drew Sanders (LB), Arkansas; Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.
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