Where is Jalin Hyatt? Why didn't the Giants WR have any targets against the Seahawks?

New York Giants second-year wide receiver Jalin Hyatt was given a chance at a bigger role in the absence of first-round star Malik Nabers. Hyatt played 48 snaps in Week 5 at Seattle – two plays shy of half his snaps this season. Hyatt's most snaps prior to Week 5 were 15 in Week 1.

Hyatt was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he had 23 catches on 40 targets for 373 yards. Wide receivers coach Mike Groh worked extensively with Hyatt throughout the offseason, and praise for the second-year wide receiver was omnipresent throughout the offseason and training camp.

Malik Nabers currently has a league-leading target percentage of 38.2% – crazy! Wan'Dale Robinson currently owns a target share of 28.1%, which is also crazy, and ranks eighth in the league. The Giants' offense is so focused that you'd think they were studying for the BAR.

Corny jokes aside, the distribution of targets combined with the fact that Darius Slayton leads the wide receiver room in total snaps is one of the reasons Hyatt only has three targets and zero catches this year. Still, the question of Hyatt's aimless 28-pass performance in Week 5 remains unanswered.

Hyatt made an impact on Sunday against Seattle. Sure, he didn't score, but he did incur two penalties against the defense – one on a third-and-six stop by Seattle late in the second quarter. This defensive attack against Riq Woolen extended the Giants' drive and led to three Giants points. Such moments don't make it into the statistics, but they are crucial for victory; Here are these two penalties:

At the top of the screen

At the top of the screen, post

Where is Hyatt?

I believe in Hyatt's talent, but he's buried on the depth chart and didn't even score against Seattle. Hilariously, he cooked Riq Woolen at the line of scrimmage on the mirrored nine routes outside the numbers, leading to Darius Slayton's 41-yard gain:

Watch the top of the screen. Hyatt wins outside and Woolen's angle, combined with Hyatt's speed, allows the young receiver easy vertical separation. There's nothing special about Hyatt's release; He simply ran into the designated gap and accelerated. The question is: Would field security (Julian Love, No. 20) get over the top quickly enough for Jones to deliver the pass? This is an intentional move by Seattle, which makes Jones' decision to throw to Slayton much more impressive. However, Hyatt's acceleration increased sharply in this game and he reached a speed of 19.4 miles per hour.

Hyatt's route tree is not diverse. He ran many vertical routes, some curving inward and others sloping toward the sideline and away from the safety (when the Giants saw Cover 2). Against Woolen, he revealed on the first throw of the game that Seattle had sacked him because Jones tripped over Andrew Thomas' foot:

At the top of the screen

Hyatt is at the top of the numbers, higher up on the screen. He penetrates Woolen, who glues himself to his hips, leaning inward toward the hash before feeling the defender's leverage and breaking out toward the numbers again. When Hyatt finally finds out about the breakup, Jones is devastated. If Jones hadn't stumbled, he might have been able to extend the play and find Hyatt to score a nice chunk early in the game, but that could also be wishful thinking.

Hyatt's next two “Routes“Screens were designed for Eric Gray. What's notable, however, is that he threw a great block that allowed Gray to get a first down on third-and-17:

At the bottom of the screen

Hyatt did a great job of isolating his defender inside and allowing Gray to get outside into space. A few plays later, on first-and-10, Hyatt was the quick option for a well-judged shot to Tyrone Tracy Jr. that didn't fool Seattle:

At the top of the screen

Hyatt executes the Deep Clear to remove the Deep Half safety. Darius Slayton dropped the pass, but he was supposed to occupy the fullback and isolate Tracy Jr. against a linebacker on a wheel out of the backfield. And all of this from the pistol sidecar, with a Wan'Dale Robinson fake on the opposite side of the field. Seattle was disciplined, but I love that play call. It's the second time in two weeks that the Giants drafted Tracy Jr. a deep pass near the red zone.

At the top of the screen, in the circuit breaker

Hyatt's next move was a deep strike against Cover-0. He was one-on-one against a safety and Hyatt quickly ate into the pad. But Jones diagnosed the blitz, recognized Theo Johnson's safety distance (84th) and wisely delivered the ball to the tight end. Seattle blitzed on 35% of its defensive snaps against the Giants, not accounting for simulated pressure. Rarely will these targets go to Hyatt, as most of his initial route trunks are seven yards or more.

Bottom of screen: #2 WR

Here's another blitz later in the second quarter where Hyatt was in a pile on the perimeter. He darted off the line of scrimmage and exploded out of his break; He would have punted on safety Rayshawn Jenkins, but Jones threw Darius Slayton downfield, who had space against the cornerback.

At the bottom of the screen

Hyatt ran a drag route on first-and-10 late in the first half. Seattle was in Cover 3 with simulated pressure. If the Giants had been in man coverage, Jones might have looked to Hyatt, but Jones saw the second-level defender and tried to check it to Tracy Jr. in the flat. This was the only route Hyatt ran near the line of attack.

At the top of the screen

Hyatt shot outside from a pile-up before returning inside on third-and-5 with 29 seconds left in the first half. The defensive back is stuck to Hyatt’s back. Hyatt saw Tre Brown (22) down in the next third (Third and fifth) at the start of the second half. Brown was seen all over the Hyatt, and it looks like a possible defensive tackle who went undrafted:

At the bottom of the screen

Robinson dropped this arrow from Jones. Hyatt was contacted as he left for his break; Once busted, he provided instant separation against a cornerback that the Giants attacked frequently throughout the game. Unfortunately for Hyatt, he rarely saw Brown and instead faced Woolen for most of the game.

Final thoughts

Jalin Hyatt had a more difficult matchup than his teammates in Week 5. Hyatt didn't get much of a lead against Woolen. He played on 28 of the Giants' 39 passing plays. He blocked three of those plays. Here are several snaps of Hyatt with the defender practically in his hip pocket:

The Giants didn't plan any plays for him and he served as more of a clear-out option in several ways. Hyatt's skillset best suits Darius Slayton's role. Slayton is a far more polished wide receiver. That doesn't mean Hyatt can't evolve, nor does it mean Hyatt doesn't have value. His speed is still an asset to the offense, which proved crucial on Sunday despite a lack of stats.

Hyatt reached a speed of 21.4 miles per hour last year using GPS tracking data. For reference, Tyreek Hill's top speed this season is 20.8 MPH. Hyatt is a minor part of the Giants' offense – but that doesn't mean he's a permanent fixture there. If New York continues to try to eliminate the football on the field, Hyatt will take advantage and bring points to the Giants. He still struggles as a back-to-back blocker and draws penalties because of his speed; He's just not there yet, as the preseason hype suggested, and that's partly due to circumstances.