Former Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt kicks off his NFL career under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football this week. Hyatt’s New York Giants will host the Dallas Cowboys in the Sunday Night Football kickoff on NBC.
Ahead of the game on Sunday, Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan show hosts RJ Choppy, Shan Shariff, and Bobby Belt interviewed the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz on Friday’s episode of Shan & RJ. Schwartz hit several topics during his radio interview but said some interesting things about the former Tennessee receiver.
One of the moves that quarterback Daniel Jones made this season shows the potential that Hyatt could have in the Giants’ system and the effort for him to get settled in and comfortable.
“What I like is Daniel Jones told him, ‘Your locker will now be next to mine,'” Schwartz said on the show. “Daniel Jones’ locker right next to him is so he soaks up everything. He’s got Sterling Sheppard right there next to him. So he has been confident like these wide receivers are but he’s also been humble enough to realize he’s not a finished product yet.”
One of the main reasons for all the hype around the Giants’ third-round draft pick is because of the speed that Hyatt showed off at Tennessee, in his combine work, and certainly during preseason training camp.
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Schwartz said on Friday that Hyatt’s speed is both surprising and impressive for different reasons.
“It does,” Schwartz answered when asked if Hyatt’s speed stands out quickly. “It really does. You know what the best thing I would say about Jalin Hyatt is? It’s not the Tyreek Hill like, ‘Holy cow, where’d he go?’ You know what I mean? Now he’s here, now he’s gone. He’s longer-legged than that. When I first started watching Jalin Hyatt in practice, in training camp, I’m like, ‘Man, he is a tall dude! He eats up the ground with his strides.’ And I look and he’s six-foot. He’s got good size, but he looks like a six-two or six-three guy the way he glides. He has very good vertical speed.”
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Hyatt spent the entire 2022 season under the spotlight as he was clearly Tennessee’s best receiver on a historic offense. Hyatt also played the whole season with the pressure of the Biletnikoff Award potentially drawing closer and closer. All that to say, Hyatt hasn’t looked scared of the lights in New York.
“He looks good,” Schwartz said. “He caught the ball, he runs routes better than I thought he would given the whole route tree thing that people say he’s just a vertical threat. Look, this guy caught five touchdown passes in a game against Alabama. He’s not going to be awed by all this. He’s been humble.”
Jalin Hyatt and the New York Giants will host the Dallas Cowboys in the first Sunday Night Football of the season at 8:20 p.m. ET this Sunday night on NBC.
