New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll wears a lot of hats at the team’s East Rutherford facility, but general manager is not one of them.
That changed a little bit on Friday night during Round 3 of the 2023 NFL draft when Daboll saw that a player that he liked — Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt — was falling fast and felt the team needed to act in order to nab him.
Daboll called Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and proposed an offer. It was accepted.
The Giants moved up and Hyatt was theirs.
“[Daboll] actually executed his first trade,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen told reporters with a laugh. “He initiated a trade with the Rams, so I congratulate him on that.”
The Giants moved from No. 89 to No. 73 with the Rams after that, throwing in their fourth-round pick (No. 128) to sweeten the pot. Schoen then took Hyatt at No. 73.
Hyatt was on everyone’s radar in the Giants’ draft room. They had met him pre-draft and worked him out. It just took a little grease from Daboll to get Hyatt in the fold.
“He can roll,” said Schoen. “I was at that Alabama game… I was on the field for the first half. and you could really feel his speed. It’s legit 4.3.”
When asked why he thought Hyatt felt so far down in the draft, Schoen said he wasn’t sure but gave some insight into the relationship between Hyatt and the Giants.
“I’m glad he was there, though. Josh Heupel, the head coach at Tennessee is a good friend of mine. We go way back. Oklahoma was my area a long time ago when he was a quarterback coach,” Schoen said. “I’ve known him for a long time, and he was the head coach at Central Florida when we took Gabe Davis, when we were in Buffalo. There’s some history there. I called him at some point today and just checked on Hyatt. We had him in on a visit. Again, I’m not sure why he was there, but we feel good about him and glad he was.”
“I think he’s a good player,” added Daboll. “I think he runs some of the routes that we run here. You can see, a little bit like Gabe (Davis), how it might translate. But again, everything is new for him. He’s a young guy. We’ll throw him in the mix with the other receivers and let those guys compete it out. A good visit here. Definitely has some qualities that you like when you’re watching him. Good young man. So, happy we have him.”
