New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt is hoping to make an immediate impact joining a wide receiver room that is deep but lacks top-end talent. What is his 2023 fantasy football projection?
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Jalin Hyatt’s 2023 Fantasy Projection
The Giants’ wide receiver situation entering this season is unlike anything I can remember. There are as many as seven wide receivers on this roster that are worthy of at least a rotational WR4/5 role on an NFL team. Yet, not a single one of them projects as anything more than a WR3, at best.
This depth chart is incredibly deep but wholly without any standout player. That gives rookie third-rounder Hyatt as good of a chance as he could ask for to climb the depth chart. He’s got a lot of names to jump, but there’s no one in front of him he has no shot of usurping.
Hyatt looks like the new breed of wide receiver, standing at 6’0″ and weighing just 176 pounds. His 4.4 40-time is fast, but given his size, it places his speed score below the 50th percentile. Like just about every wide receiver on the Giants, Hyatt looks like a traditional slot guy.
While Hyatt isn’t blocked by any one player in particular, his upside in this offense as a rookie is likely not very high.
Last season, with Daniel Jones displaying impressive rushing ability, the Giants were one of the most run-heavy teams in the league. Their 49% neutral-game-script-run rate was the ninth-highest.
Head coach Brian Daboll’s plan to limit Jones’ propensity for turnovers was to simply not let him throw that much. Jones averaged just 29.5 pass attempts per game.
Jones also kept the ball close to the line of scrimmage as a way of managing the game. His 6.5 air yards per attempt were 31st in the league. This enabled him to set a career-high in completion percentage at 67.2% but limited his big-play ability.
Between the lack of volume, the uncertain role, and the abundance of players that do the same thing, Hyatt is unlikely to make a meaningful impact as a rookie.
Should You Draft Jalin Hyatt This Year?
Somehow, Hyatt is actually the first Giants wide receiver taken with a WR66 ADP, No. 188 overall. Between Hyatt, Wan’Dale Robinson, Sterling Shepard, Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, and Jamison Crowder, we may see as many as five of them selected in some fantasy drafts.
Typically, when a bunch of receivers are taken from a single team, it’s because that offense is really good. With the Giants, it’s because we have no idea who is going to lead this group in targets.
My projection for how the Giants’ pass-catching situation will shake out is an unfriendly one for fantasy. Tight end Darren Waller will likely lead the team in targets, with RB Saquon Barkley second.
At wide receiver, it wouldn’t surprise me if every name I mentioned had moments of relevance. There will be weeks when several of these guys pop up on waiver wire columns following a strong performance, only to likely fade back into obscurity shortly thereafter.
I’m expecting a wide receiver by committee situation in New York, with no one ever truly establishing himself as having consistent fantasy value.
Hyatt’s status as the top guy by ADP is purely a reflection of him being the unknown. For the rest of the guys, sans Robinson (who is coming off a torn ACL) and Hodgins (who is still an unproven former sixth-rounder), we know what they are. Hyatt could be nothing. But he also could be something. Unlike the other guys, his ceiling is unknown.
I have Hyatt ranked outside the top 100. I don’t expect Hyatt to matter as a rookie, or really at any point, for that matter. Perhaps I will be proven wrong in the future, but for 2023, Hyatt is not someone fantasy managers need to target.
