ESPN: Tennessee's Jalin Hyatt will be drafted 'higher than we think' in NFL Draft
Jalin Hyatt will be a player that coms off the board at the NFL Draft sooner than most think, according to ESPN analyst Matt Miller. Hyatt was named by Miller in ESPN’s “NFL Draft buzz” update on Friday.
“Hyatt has been a top-32 player for me since the 2022 season ended,” Miller wrote, “but that’s more of an outlier than a consensus take. I’m standing firm, though — and I think Hyatt could be a top-25 selection. Wide receivers with high-end speed to stretch the field seemingly always rise on draft day, and Hyatt’s production in the SEC should turn heads once coaches get involved in the process of stacking team boards.
“Hyatt averaged 18.9 yards per reception last year and scored 15 touchdowns en route to a Biletnikoff Award trophy for the nation’s best receiver. He also couldn’t be stopped by Nick Saban’s Alabama defense; multiple scouts are still talking about his six catches for 207 yards and five touchdowns against the Crimson Tide.”
Jalin Hyatt set Tennessee single-season receiving record with 15 touchdowns last season
Hyatt, Tennessee’s first Biletnikoff Award winner, led college football and set a new Tennessee single-season record with 15 touchdowns while erupting onto the scene during his junior season. He finished with 1,267 receiving yards on the year.
Hyatt said after Tennessee’s Pro Day on March 30 that the feedback he’s received during meetings with NFL teams has been “very good.”
“I’ve been talking to a lot of teams,” he said. “And not only that, I have by top-30 visits coming up. So I’m going to be everywhere. But definitely I’ve been hearing good feedback. Just excited about the process and what’s next. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Up Next: NFL Draft, April 27-29, Kansas City
And yes, as Miller noted above, Hyatt’s legendary performance against Alabama in Tennessee’s 52-49 win at Neyland Stadium in October has been a topic of conversations during his sit-downs with NFL teams during the pre-draft process.
“Really most of the meetings I’ve been to, we definitely brought up the Bama film,” Hyatt said. “They love talking about it. But I think the reason why they bring it up is based off what we did. How we game-planned, what we did, what type of plays we ran and what we hit them with. They were very impressed. My film speaks for itself. A lot of good things in there.
“But at the same time, there were some plays where they would show me my bad plays. And that’s just what it is. They want to see how you react, what type of player you are when things don’t go your way. Interview process, and everything with that, it went smoothly so far.”
