ESPN names Jalin Hyatt to New York Giants as 'best value pick' in Round 3
The floodgates opened for Tennessee football’s NFL Draft hopefuls in the third round late Friday night in Kansas City. Four Vols heard their names called over a span of nine picks, staring with quarterback Hendon Hooker at No. 68 and ending with edge rusher Byron Young at No. 77.
Hooker was followed by wide receivers Jalin Hyatt at No. 73 overall, to the New York Giants, and Cedric Tillman at No. 74, to the Cleveland Browns.
Of all the third-round picks, though, the best value came with the Giants picking Hyatt according to ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller.
Miller and ESPN’s Jordan Reid earlier this week named their favorite picks, worst reaches and favorite fits while looking back at the draft, with Hyatt getting Miller’s vote for the “best value pick in Round 3.”
Miller also named Hooker at No. 68 overall as his favorite pick of the entire draft.
ESPN: New York Giants ‘love vertical speed players’
“Outside of Detroit’s Hooker pick (which I mentioned earlier),” Miller wrote, “I really liked the Hyatt pick for the Giants in Round 3. The Tennessee wideout was a top-30 player on my board and lands in an ideal situation with Mike Kafka and Brian Daboll running the offense. They love vertical speed players.”
Hyatt used his elite speed to be arguably the best vertical threat in all of college football last season, catching 67 passes for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns. The 15 touchdowns set a single-season Tennessee football record and his average of 18.91 yards per catch was second highest among the 31 receivers that went for 1,000 yards or more last season.
He set another Tennessee record with five touchdowns in the 52-49 win over Alabama at Neyland Stadium in October and in December became the first UT receiver to win the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to college football’s best receiver.
Hyatt, during his introductory press conference with the Giants on Saturday, was asked why he believes he’s such a big-play threat.
“I feel like I’m just dynamic, explosive,” Hyatt said. “I feel like I get open 24/7. That’s what you want in a receiver. I think with those three attributes, I think that’s why I separate myself from everybody else.”
Jalin Hyatt: ‘I’ve been waiting for this my whole life’
Hyatt caught 20 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman during the 10-game, COVID-shortened 2020 season. He had 21 catches for 226 yards and two more touchdowns in 13 games during his sophomore season in 2021, before he starred for the Vols last season.
“I would just say I got serious with it,” Hyatt said when asked what was different for him last season. “I got serious with it. I started realizing that this right here is for me. I had dreams of coming to the NFL. I had dreams of playing here as a kid. Playing basketball, playing football, running track — I had a dream of coming to football. I knew it was going to come.
“So being here, in this moment, seeing all of y’all and seeing my parents here, it’s a dream come true. This is something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.”
After getting picked in the third round, Hyatt said Giants quarterback Daniel Jones texted him asking if he was ready to go. The answer, without hesitation, was yes.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Hyatt said. “I’m ready. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. Like I said, I’m going to be an asset for him. That’s what I want to be. I want to be receiver he can trust, who is going to be professional, who is going to get open for him consistently. That’s what I’m going to do for him.”
