New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt had a storybook junior season at the University of Tennessee. He became the school’s first Biletnikoff Award winner after posting 1,267 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in an 11-win season for the Vols.
The Giants selected Hyatt with the No. 73 pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. While his NFL Draft declaration wasn’t surprising, Hyatt did have a final season of eligibility left in college should he have chosen to exercise it. He elaborated on why he didn’t return to Tennessee, which revolved around NIL compensation.
“Another thing we had to do when I was talking to the University of Tennessee about coming back was the numbers. You know, what numbers are we looking at? What can it look like? And the problem was, it’s not like they couldn’t throw me a number that I wanted. It was a thing of they wanted to wait. They wanted to say, ‘Oh, you can come back and then let’s deal with the numbers’. Like, no, that’s not how it’s supposed to work. Because then how can I compare it to the league when you’re telling me ‘ok, you got to come back before we can even decide to see what numbers we can talk about.”
Hyatt went on to explain that he holds love for the university and everything it did for him. He logged 23 catches for 373 yards in his rookie season with the Giants.