4. Jalin Hyatt, WR
Overall Rank: 196th
Position Rank: 33rd
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 165 lbs
School: Dutch Fork (South Carolina)
I know Jalin Hyatt got a nice bump as the 2020 recruiting rankings were finalized, and he’s a borderline top-100 prospect in the regular 247Sports rankings. But I still listed him here because he’s the No. 33 receiver in the 2020 class per the composite rankings, and I would be stunned if there were 32 other wide receivers in the 2020 class who are better than him.
The biggest knock I’ve continually seen about Hyatt is his lack of size. He’s probably just a hair under 6-feet tall, and he’s pretty thin at the moment. But I think far too much value is placed on having elite height on wide receivers heading into college, and the NFL Draft results back me up on that.
In the 2019 NFL Draft, six of the nine receivers who were taken in the first two rounds of the draft were 6-foot-1 or shorter, with three of those six coming in under 6-feet tall. In the 2018 draft, six of the eight receivers taken in the first two rounds were 6-foot-1 or shorter, and three of the six wideouts selected in the first two rounds of the 2017 draft were 6-foot-1 or shorter.
The leading receiver in college football this season? LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase, who was 6-foot, 200 pounds.
Having a big body is great, and college football and the NFL is full of talented receivers who are 6-foot-3 or bigger. But if you have elite speed and know what you’re doing on routes, then you can be just as dangerous. And that describes Jalin Hyatt perfectly.
Hyatt said in a recent interview on The Swain Event that he was laser times running a 4.29-second 40-yard dash at a regional camp for Nike’s The Opening, but the scouts there didn’t believe the time. So he ran it again, and his “official” recorded time was 4.31 seconds.
That’s blazing fast. As in the only player in the SEC who I think is faster than Hyatt is Auburn’s Anthony Schwartz, and that kid is lightning-quick.
Hyatt isn’t just a straightline speed demon, though; watching his film, it’s clear that he has a strong knowledge of route-running, and he has great leaping ability, too. He doesn’t just outrun defenders and catch deep passes; Hyatt is smart and already has more of a route tree than most high school receivers do.
At Dutch Fork, Hyatt was a record-setter in his senior season and his career. As a senior, Hyatt brought down 66 receptions for 1,361 yards and 26 touchdowns. Hyatt caught a total of 57 touchdowns in three seasons with Dutch Fork and amassed over 3,500 receiving yards in that same span, winning four-straight state titles in the process.
