2023 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Prospect: Jalin Hyatt, WR Tennessee
Our NFL rookie profile series continues with this analysis of 2023 NFL Draft Prospect Jalin Hyatt, WR from Tennessee. We will continue to provide you with these in-depth rookie profiles and a ton of other fantasy football rookie analysis right up through the NFL Draft. Stay tuned, and stay ahead of your league.
When projecting how a rookie wide receiver might perform in the NFL, there are so many ways to thoroughly evaluate them. Through this article, I will walk through the statistics, the film, the measurables, and finally the value.
Before we get into those, I always want to get a high-level feel for the player I am evaluating, so I turn to YouTube. In the film section I will get into some technical details, but just by watching some highlights, we can immediately get our own impression regardless of measurables, data, etc. I refer to this as the eye test.
Let me tell you, before I even dug deeper into Jalin Hyatt, the answer was an emphatic yes. I first watched some of his games versus unranked opponents and he performed very well and was open often. I shrugged this off. Then, I watched him versus Kentucky (top-25 team), and he was still making wide-open catches. Okay, he looks good. Finally, I got to the Alabama game, and my word, he was like a three-year NFL wide receiver abusing college defenders. Although this was a great first impression, we need to look under the hood and see if our eyes might be deceiving us.
THE STATS
Courtesy of Sports Reference.
In 2020, Hyatt was the third receiver behind two senior WRs in Josh Palmer and Velus Jones Jr, both of whom are now in the NFL. For Hyatt’s sophomore year, I would have expected him to become the main WR with the two seniors departing, however, Cedric Tillman had an incredible season with 64 receptions, 1,081 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns. This type of market share isn’t something that one would want to see for a prospect’s ascension to the NFL.
However, in Hyatt’s junior season, he completely took over with Tillman playing only six games. I think it’s a fair knock against Hyatt here – that he excelled after an injury to the WR who outplayed him the year prior. Nonetheless, Hyatt did step up and had a massive season with 67 receptions, 1,267 receiving yards, and 15 touchdowns.
Ultimately, I will mark his college production as a positive as his market share had an upward trajectory. I believe Hyatt is making a wise choice to declare for the NFL Draft this year and stand on his junior season performance. He possibly learned the lesson from Tillman, who returned for his senior year and likely hurt if not killed his chances of getting drafted high.
THE FILM
This YouTube highlight reel is a solid look into Hyatt’s game. From unranked teams to Kentucky, to Alabama, he was able to consistently get open and run a variety of routes. Hyatt’s game is like Golden Tate for me. He can run routes close to the line of scrimmage but also run the fly route with ease. His ability to separate with not only his speed but efficient route running gives him a lethal combination that, in my opinion, will project well into the NFL. Many WRs have excelled with speed and limited route running, and others with route running and limited speed or quickness. Hyatt’s style will be an excellent asset for any system or quarterback. He doesn’t need a quarterback to throw him open, and in fact, I anticipate that Hyatt will improve his NFL QB.
Usually at the college level, wide receivers dominate lesser defenders with a few techniques and/or their speed. For example, a physically dominant player like Mike Evans never needed to be the best route runner, he could run faster, jump higher, and win contested catches. Hyatt can win in so many ways, enabling his range of outcomes to be a possession WR and a deep threat. He will likely struggle with bigger, faster defenders in the NFL, however, his route running combined with the speed with give him plenty of tools to work himself open. Hyatt has special awareness that is rare for a young college WR. He is able to distance himself from the primary defender and then find the open space between the defender and the safety at the next level.
You can watch him in some individual games here.
THE MEASURABLES
His 40-yard dash speed of 4.4 seconds pops out as well as his 77th percentile vertical. From watching his highlights, both metrics align with the tape. On film, the route running was smooth and efficient with speed to get open, however, he did not win with his vertical jump. This isn’t to suggest Hyatt couldn’t win a contested catch but rather to highlight that he succeeded despite the poor vertical.
DYNASTY VALUE
Courtesy of March 2023 Rookie Dynasty ADP.
As the WR6 off the board and tenth overall according to our March 2023 Rookie Mock ADP, Hyatt provides a very solid prospect to add to your third-place roster. Having a pick at the back end of the first round and looking to add high-upside youth at your WR position is a great way to continue to build to compete year after year. In the ten mocks, the earliest Hyatt was taken was at 1.09, and the latest was at 2.03.
If he makes it to me in the early second round, it will be a smash for me nearly every time. Given my personal lean toward rookie WRs, I could see myself taking Hyatt as early as 1.06. This tool provides a great range of outcomes based on what we know right now. This can help set our expectations of where you might have to take him, or the possibilities that he falls into the second round.
Courtesy of DLF’s ADP Comparison Tool.
By using the ADP Comparison Tool, we can quickly glance at the impact the Scouting Combine had over the top rookie WRs. While Hyatt didn’t lose value, it is noticeable that of the other WRs in his tier, he was the only one who didn’t *gain* value. With Zay Flowers, Josh Downs, and Hyatt all bunched up near each other in the February ADP, post combine we can see quite a bit of separation with Flowers and Downs jumping in ADP, and Hyatt staying about where he was.
Ultimately, Hyatt’s draft capital will play a big role in his ADP and overall value with respect to the other WRs. I would view this as an opportunity to get a talented WR at a decent value.
- 2023 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Prospect: Jalin Hyatt, WR Tennessee - April 6, 2023
- 2021 Summer Sleeper: Las Vegas Raiders - August 14, 2021
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