Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee (6’0”, 176)
What Scouts Say:
Explosive athlete at all three levels excels at the vertical level. Elite ball skills, elusive. Small frame, only one year of production in a spread offense, limited route tree. Elite speed was once clocked at a 4.3 40. At times was unguardable last year. Great route runner, but doesn’t have the feel for zone defense that others do at this point in their career. Exploded as a Junior after two years of nothing production, a one-year breakout player. Precision route runner with elite speed and quickness that can dominate. Lean frame, is almost exclusively a slot player in college, small route tree, spread offense. Can create yards on his own after the catch. Absolute burner has elite speed, and elite ball tracking downfield. Sure-handed, but not slippery after the catch, will be a straight-line guy. He pretty much only ran verts in college. Might be a purely vertical threat at the next level.
What We Saw:
Tony:
Jalin Hyatt’s film was incredibly fun to watch because while he can really only do one thing, it’s the fact that he does it so well that blows me away. He’s got elite speed and strong route running, and by the time the combine rolls around, he’s going to be in the first round of everyone’s mock IRL drafts. As of right now, he looks like a weapon that teams are going to try to get in space. If all else fails, have him run the go route and we’ll be fine. He is a field stretcher in the truest sense of the word, teams will have to account for him over the top. The issue is that he might be limited to a slot role and that there isn’t a ton of tape out there on him due to his one-year production. However, while you can coach beating the press, and expanding the route tree, you can’t teach speed and this dude is a gigantic rail done off a Soundgarden CD in someone’s guest room.
Shane:
That man FAST AS HELL. I’m going to admit, I’m biased, Hyatt is a “my guy” for me this year. He leaped off the screen to me when I was watching Hooker’s tape and I’ll get him where I can grab him. He pretty much ran one route for half the season, down the boundary straight, as fast as he could, into the endzone. As the season progressed he started to be utilized more across the middle and was equally as lethal. We’ll see how much he can develop into more than a deep threat, but I’m excited to see where he falls(LAC please) and how teams decide to utilize his skillset and frame. He plays a lot bigger than he is and has the ability to put on more weight as time goes on. Got that DAWG in him for blocking, which will keep him on the field and open up more opportunities. Good head movement and hand usage, but I didn’t really see too much of dealing with actual contact from defenders as he was usually 2-3 yards ahead of them at all times, so we’ll see how he deals with the press in The NFL. I’m just hoping he doesn’t get Tyquon Thorton’d as teams just love his speed and end up putting him as their WR3 and shrugging their shoulders. Most likely a better NFL asset than a fantasy asset. POST COMBINE UPDATE: Slower than advertised, drop issues at the combine. Ouch.
Player Comparison:
A decent-sized line of speed/Jameson Williams (?)
