Jalin Hyatt out to prove he’s not just a one-trick pony

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jalin Hyatt is so fast that Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson can actually hear a difference when the rookie receiver flies by. His track-stride is so long, the sound of his footsteps is actually slower.

That’s deceptive, because the reality is that when Hyatt flies by, he’s just a blur.

“Once he’s rolling, he’s rolling,” Jackson said. “We’ve seen (tight end) Darren Waller run (and) it’s like, ‘OK, he’s fast.’ But then when (Hyatt’s) legs start to churn, it’s like ‘OK, he’s going away like a Usain Bolt.'”

Hyatt might not be as fast as the Jamaican superstar sprinter, but as far as NFL corners are concerned, he might seem close. The Giants’ third-round pick has literally been turning heads all summer with his breakaway speed and ability to get behind — sometimes way behind — the defense. He looks like the big-play receiver that’s so desperately needed by a team that finished dead last in the NFL in big plays last year.

[Darren Waller racking up the superlatives at first Giants training camp]

But even as Hyatt’s hype reaches supersonic speeds, his teammates offered a word of caution. There is a big difference between a player who can run fast and one who can be a dangerous NFL receiver. And as impressive as the 21-year-old Hyatt has been this summer, he still has a long way to go.

“He’s a rookie, and it’s all new to him,” said receiver Darius Slayton. “This system is not easy for a rookie.”

“One hundred percent,” added receiver Parris Campbell. “(Giants coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka) are offensive gurus. They really know what they’re doing. Dabs has so much in his arsenal. He wants to always keep the defense guessing. So, we’ve got a lot of different plays, a lot of different things to learn. Shoot, it’s tough for me. I can only imagine just being a rookie and kind of doing it all over again.”

Hyatt, by all accounts, has done a good job of studying and learning the scheme so far, but it’s worth remembering the biggest reason why one of the fastest receivers in the draft slipped all the way to the third round. There were concerns that as productive as he was at Tennessee — where he had 67 catches, 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior — the 6-foot, 185-pounder was limited in the way the Volunteers coaching staff used him. He mostly ran straight-ahead — crossing or fly routes. He wasn’t really asked to try to get open any other way.

A player like that can only do that can still be useful in the NFL, but it would make him more of a specialty receiver. Hyatt has already raised expectations far beyond that, especially when he declared last week that “I want to be Offensive Rookie of the Year.”

Could he really pick up a complicated offensive system quick enough to do that? Daboll, the architect of that system, has praised Hyatt for being “productive” in camp and said: “He’s made plays when it’s come his way.” But he also said: “He’s got a long way to go.”

There’s just no telling how fast he’ll get there.

“It’s on such an individual basis,” Daboll said. “There’s people that pick it up faster, people that it’s a little bit slow for and then it hits and then they start going. I think everybody’s different based on how they learn, where they come from.

“I think the biggest thing for us is to not be instant evaluators when (they struggle): ‘Aw, this guy can’t get it.’ I mean, you put a lot of research and time into trying to bring people in that you think can learn the material.”

The Giants do think Hyatt can learn it all, and learn it quickly. But they’ve made sure not to put any pressure on him, either. Slayton and Campbell are likely the team’s top two receivers, and Waller is the No. 1 option in the passing game overall. Hyatt is also surrounded by veteran receivers like Sterling Shepard, Cole Beasley and Jameson Crowder from whom he can learn this summer. He’s not on his own, and he definitely won’t have to do it all.

But that speed sure makes it seem like maybe he can. He looks so much faster than the 4.4 he ran in the 40 at the combine — the sixth fastest time among receivers, even slightly behind his Giants teammate, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia who clocked a 4.38. On the field this summer he’s looked like a video game character after getting turbo-charged.

Hyatt said that in one practice at training camp, the team’s GPS monitors tracked him running at a speed of 24 miles per hour. Not only would that get him a speeding ticket in some spots in New Jersey, but it would’ve broken Tyreek Hill‘s record for the fastest speed ever recorded by an NFL player in an actual game (23.24).

“When you watch myself on film, sometimes it doesn’t look that fast because I’m more of a strider, how I use my long speed,” Hyatt said. “But when you actually get out there and actually have got to guard up and cover, it’s a whole different speed.”

Hyatt knows, though, that his speed can only take him so far. If he wants to be the No. 1 receiver he thinks he can be, he’ll have to do a whole lot more.

“I think for me, it’s just: What can you do with contested catches? Can you make 50/50 balls? And when you are getting covered, and you’re not in the spot that you want to be in, can you make a play?” he said. “I think I can do everything. I want to be a complete receiver. I think that’s the biggest thing for me. And that’s going to be day by day, just getting more comfortable as far as how defenders are and how they cover. Everything is more in tight space, so just getting open quicker.”

His teammates think he’ll get there, maybe even quicker than anybody expects. They may be blown away by his speed, but that’s not the only thing they’ve noticed this summer. Hyatt may still be a work in progress, but that progress has been clear.

“Whatever they said that he couldn’t do, I’m seeing him do it,” Jackson said. “Getting out of his breaks, knowing how to sell (his routes). He’s good in press coverage and if you’re off (the line), it’s the same way. I think he does a lot of things well. And when you hear what you can’t do, you work on it.

“He is coming out here showing that he can be a complete receiver.”

Hyatt added. “That’s what I want to show That I’m a complete receiver.”

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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