Can New York Giants rookie wide receiver Jalin Hyatt run a full route tree? Was his college success system-specific? Is he just a speedy player and nothing else?
That’s been the narrative created for Hyatt dating back to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis but his former offensive coordinator, Alex Golesh, says it’s all nonsense.
“That was the sexy question leading up to draft,” Golesh said on the Giants Huddle Podcast. “Is it the offense? Is it the product of the offense? Is it what you guys do and the tempo?”
Golesh, who now serves as head coach at USF, says Hyatt can do it all and those who disagree simply don’t understand the game — certainly not what Tennessee was doing offensively.
“I think you can either play receiver or you can’t,” he said. “I think when that question comes up, it’s because people don’t understand what we do and that’s exactly how we want it. When people don’t understand what’s going on, they tend to create reasons why it should work or shouldn’t work. He’s a high-level receiver. He can run any route. He can catch any ball. Obviously, he’s young, he’s got to develop just like any receiver out of any offense, and it’s the New York Giants’ job to coach him to do that.
The offensive scheme can only take a player so far, Golesh says. Hyatt still had to go out there and run solid routes, create separation, and beat his opponents one-on-one.
Golesh expects that to continue with the Giants.
“I’ve never seen a scheme get somebody open on a defensive back,” Golesh said. “The scheme maybe allows a formational matchup that you like, but the guy has still got to do the job of getting open. He’s as complete of a receiver as a three-year guy can be. It’s on that coaching staff, and offensively with the staff [the Giants] have, [they] do an incredible job of getting guys open in space and creating matchups. He’s going to do whatever that coaching staff asks him to do, and hopefully from a fan standpoint, getting vertical over top of people is one of those things.”
Hyatt is far from a finished product and plenty of development still needs to take place, but according to Golesh and most others who have been around him, the rookie is far more polished than many seem to believe.
