Giants Wideout Makes Bold Statement for 2024 Season

Coming off the heels of a disappointing rookie campaign, Jalin Hyatt’s first full NFL offseason has inherited a trifold purpose–giving back to the local community, setting lofty goals for himself and being the official spokesman for the New York Giants’ much improved wide receivers room. 

The team’s third-round selection in 2023, Hyatt came to East Rutherford expecting to give the Giants a taste of that dynamic, vertical receiving threat they had been lacking since the departure of Odell Beckham Jr. As a 1,000+ yard receiver in his final season at Tennessee who held the NCAA’s second-highest 15 touchdowns, the 22-year-old was expected to leave his mark as a potential No. 1 option and embolden the position group’s production inside the endzone. 

Unfortunately, that potential never became reality in a woeful Giants offense that crumbled far too often behind a bruised and battered offensive line. Hyatt finished his debut season with 23 catches for 273 yards in 17 games and was unable to cash in a single touchdown for New York, one of the many scars of what became the second-worst passing attack in the entire league. 

On Monday afternoon at a charity event appearance in Midtown, the Giants wide receiver opened up about his fruitless scoring efforts while serving lunch to children from the Boys and Girls Club Madison Square Chapter. With his second training camp just one week away, Hyatt said he is hungry to break the longest drought of his football player and has a steadfast timeline for doing so. 

“Week 1,” Hyatt said to the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy. “I’m hungry. I’ve never had a season in my life of not scoring a touchdown. That stays with me. That will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ll be ready.”

While Hyatt was unable to achieve his first trot into the endzone last season, it’s hard to argue he was the sole let down on the Giants offense. The unit was marred with inefficiencies in 2023, from a makeshift offensive line that ranked 24th in pass blocking win rate to a quarterback position that was down to its third answer in Tommy DeVito by the final stretch of the year. 

On top of Hyatt’s underperforming numbers, the Giants receiving corps finished the season 28th in passing touchdowns and 30th in average yards per catch. No matter where they looked, they were unable to find or encourage a high-volume contributor, as just one player in Darius Slayton finished above 700 receiving yards and only two with at least 3 touchdowns posted.

With the goal of turning things around for his sophomore season, the former SEC product isn’t letting the deficiencies of the huddle tell the whole story of his offensive disconnect. He knows that if he wants to be the endzone menace he was in college, it’ll take extra work to get better and in turn elevate the performance of his teammates.

Prior to scrambling to Manhattan for the fundraiser, Hyatt was already putting his preaching into practice by getting in some early morning route drills with his quarterback Daniel Jones who is recovering from his ACL tear. Both guys have taken every offseason opportunity to build towards the 2024 season, including their 7 AM workouts at the Giants training facility in East Rutherford to the Jones-sponsored annual throwing session in his hometown in North Carolina with the rookie skilled players. 

As some of the veteran talent from previous years have departed, notably Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Darren Waller, who retired a month ago, Hyatt sees these opportunities not only as quality reps to figure out how he can improve on the field. He views them as excellent moments to become one of the newest leaders in the locker room and display to the younger players what it takes to be successful before you hit the gridiron for your first NFL game. 

““It was different not having Shep and Saquon there — two of your leaders who have been here for a minute,” Hyatt said. “At the same time, it’s good to be around your teammates training and having fun afterwards. The rookies showing their personalities is the biggest thing about it. When rookies come in, they can be shy and trying to get into the flow of things. We were trying to make it easy and show we are a family.”

If all goes well with their health, Hyatt and the Giants receivers will return to MetLife Stadium finally looking like that new set of flashy toys that Jones has lacked in recent campaigns. Along with the second-year pro, Big Blue drafted Malik Nabers to be their long awaited No. 1 option and have Darius Slayton who has been the perimeter staple of the position in his four-year stint with New York. 

Running amuck with them will be a nice set of playmakers in the slot as well, headlined by Wan’Dale Robinson who finished his second term on the team in the same spot for receiving yards. With all their talents paired together, they’re set to diversify the Giants’ aerial attack and put a challenge to the rest of the league to shut down more than just the one impact guy that defined last season’s squad. 

That means gone are the days of opponents glossing over the arsenal when visiting the Big Apple, says Hyatt, who’s made just as much a focus to bolster the team’s image on the field as he has off of it. In his mind, he and his teammates have untapped potential that is now ready to shut down the excuses and earn the respect of the rest of the NFL.

He still won’t let the cart come too far before the horse though, but is excited to let his words match his actions and prove to the league why the Giants assembled this group for 2024. 

In other Giants news: