The New York Giants have slowly been incorporating rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt into their offensive scheme. The first few games of the season saw his targets and timeshare of opportunities fall by the wayside, but he’s been a far more important variable over the past two weeks.
Jalin Hyatt is flashing his potential as a rookie
On the season, Hyatt has only tallied 195 yards on nine receptions, most of which have come in the deeper portions of the field. In fact, Hyatt has caught four passes 20+ yards downfield across eight targets, good for 164 yards. Against the Washington Commanders, he enjoyed 75 yards, his second-best performance comparable to his stand-out game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2.
The hope is that the Giants continue to build up his skill set and refine his qualities since he needed a bit of development in the route running department.
Brian Daboll still sees room for improvement in Hyatt’s game
Head coach Brian Daboll is optimistic Hyatt will continue to grow and become a strong contributor, but he also indicated there is still a lot of work left to be done.
“He’s young. I’ve talked about this before. He’s improving, but with these young players, we’ve still got a ways to go in detail, assignment, execution, everything that every position gets evaluated on. Those are things we’ll continue to work on with him,” Daboll told reporters on Monday. “It was good, again, to see him make a few plays, but certainly have ways to improve.”
Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor has focused in on Hyatt at times, giving him opportunities downfield to make plays. In the win against Washington, he made a spectacular grab on the right boundary, keeping his feet in bounds for a long gain. His chemistry with Tyrod is developing, but the Giants are hoping that Jones can replicate that exact production, even if the offensive line struggles to a degree. The expected return of Andrew Thomas in Week 8 should boost their efficiency.
“He’s made some big plays when he’s had an opportunity to, in terms of downfield. We threw him a few more this game, came down with some, didn’t with others,” Daboll said. “Again, I can’t say it enough, he’s got a long way to go. Hard position to jump right into. He’s making strides, but still got a lot to learn and details to clean up.”
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The Giants can utilize Hyatt to create more explosive plays
The Giants are gearing up for a difficult matchup against the New York Jets this upcoming Sunday afternoon, a team that has a stellar defense and stout secondary. Beating them deep will be difficult, given they have an intimidating pass rush, but Hyatt shouldn’t be factored out, even if he has made most of his impact downfield.
The Giants saw him make a critical third-down reception against the Buffalo Bills to keep the chains moving and the game alive late in the fourth quarter. He could be trusted in high-leverage situations — the Giants should continue to give him opportunities to make plays. Building up his confidence and continuing to refine his weaknesses are the priority, but Daboll isn’t trying to rush him into unfamiliar circumstances, which is a good plan to help expedite his growth.
Once the Giants solve their offensive line issues, Hyatt should be incorporated far more frequently, especially when throwing downfield.
