New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (13) warms up...

New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (13) warms up on the sidelines during an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. Credit: AP/Jerome Miron

Jalin Hyatt’s Giants tenure has been disappointing, to say the least. It’s not the first time he has struggled to meet expectations.

Hyatt lost his starting receiver spot during his sophomore season at Tennessee in 2021. Two games into the year, he was benched.  It was a wake-up call and it showed him that his game preparation wasn't good enough.

Four years later, he called that memory a blessing and motivation for his current situation:  a player running out of time to impress but facing his best chance to do so with Malik Nabers sidelined for the season.

“Obviously, [I] haven’t done a lot here that I wanted to do, and that's OK,” Hyatt said this past week. “Now it’s like, what are we going to do now? Obviously, the past wasn't the best thing for me, and I'm just on to the present and the future.”

If the benching at Tennessee was a wake-up call, Nabers’ ACL injury was a fire alarm for Hyatt to get right and produce. The third-year receiver potentially has runway to reinvigorate his career or watch it stay flat.

Beginning Sunday at New Orleans, the Giants need a reliable third receiving option after Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson. They didn’t sign anyone from a practice squad, so they apparently believe  that player is on their roster.

It could be Hyatt, who barely played this season before last Sunday. It also could be undrafted rookie Beaux Collins. He played 21 snaps on offense last Sunday to Hyatt’s 29.

“We’re both ready for it, for the moment,” Collins said. “Whenever that comes, whenever our name is called, we’ll both go make plays.”

It’s Hyatt who has more weight on his shoulders to have an impact. The 2023 third-round pick hasn’t performed like someone who entered the NFL as a unanimous All-American.

Hyatt caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the final 2025 preseason game but also had a pair of drops. After two seasons in which he totaled only 31 catches for 435 yards and no touchdowns, he didn’t play in the Giants’ first two games this season despite being active. He had six snaps in the home-opening loss to Kansas City and has yet to be targeted for a pass.

It showed that even though Russell Wilson championed his potential during training camp, Hyatt remained outside of the Giants’ plans. That’s why he leaned on what he learned in 2021 when he got benched.

With Tennessee under a new coach in Josh Heupel, Hyatt quickly lost favor. It was the first time his play wasn’t good enough to start, and it made him examine why and what needed to change.

“That whole season, [I] really didn't play that much,” Hyatt said. “[I was] watching the older guys . . .  So really, just watching that and obviously going through things as well, that was the first time I went through adversity. Like I’m not on the field, not playing well.''

So he stayed in Knoxville to work out over the summer instead of returning home to South Carolina. He put his frustration to work to prove himself worthy of regaining his starting job.

The result? Hyatt led the SEC in touchdowns (15) and receiving yards (1,267) and won the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s top receiver.

His struggles with the Giants made him lean on those lessons from college. He tried the same thing this offseason, working out with Wilson and fellow receivers or helping Jaxson Dart while both were on the Giants’ scout team.

“If I'm not playing as well, and when things happen, I piggyback to that,” Hyatt said of that 2022 offseason. “That's kind of what I did this year. Whenever your chance comes, whenever your opportunity comes, never know when, be ready.”

The Giants need him or Collins to do just that.  It’s a battle of who can be the most consistent. Hyatt knows it and vows to bring that to the field to help Dart get acclimated to the offense.

However, Hyatt doesn’t feel pressure to perform. Nor does he feel pressure to show why the Giants should make him part of their future.

“Once you make this game more than what it is, once you start overthinking things, that's when your play level goes down,” he said. “That’s when your focus, your mind, shifts to something else. You know, I want my focus, I want everything on football.”

Dart said it best Wednesday: Nabers can’t be replaced because he’s “one of one.” But he added that the Giants still have players who can try to fill his role.

Hyatt doesn’t need to be Nabers. He needs to be more of himself to convince the Giants why they should keep investing in him.

He did it in college when similar questions were asked. Now he's    hoping to do it again to salvage a rough start to his pro career.

“Now it's like, 'OK, what are you going to do with the opportunity?' ” Hyatt said. “So I just can't wait to go out there, ball with my teammates, have fun with these guys, and obviously get a win. That's the big thing.”

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