The New York Giants are entering a new era of football this offseason, but as the team dives headfirst into training camp, they face a familiar and frustrating dilemma. When you have a young player with unteachable physical abilities, it's incredibly difficult to let go of the "what if." You hold onto the vision of what they could be, rather than what they actually are.
It wasn't all that long ago that the Giants were coming out of the 2023 Draft feeling like they had found their next great wide receiver. After trading up in the third round to select Tennessee standout -- and then-reigning Biletnikoff Award winner -- Jalin Hyatt, the vision was clear. He possessed game-breaking speed that was supposed to open up the offense for quarterback Daniel Jones.
But as John Harbaugh and his new coaching staff look at the wide receiver room following two days of training camp practices, it's clear that a breaking point is looming. This team has been given no choice but to pull the plug on expecting Hyatt to be a reliable piece of this offense.
Jalin Hyatt is picking the worst possible time to disappear
After a decent rookie season where he flashed potential with 373 yards, his momentum went crickets. In his second season, he caught eight passes for 62 yards. Then things went from bad to worse in 2025, with Hyatt only seeing eight games of action, catching five passes for 35 yards.
He missed half of the season as a healthy scratch -- not a good look for a once-promising player trying to stick.
You know it's bad when backup quarterback Jameis Winston nearly matched the 24-year-old's receiving output (33) and bested him in career touchdown receptions with a whopping one score. That's unacceptable for any receiver, but especially for a former third-round pick.
It'd be one thing if injuries were the culprit of his career-long struggles, but Hyatt’s downfall has been a lack of development and on-field efficiency and urgency. He has failed to expand his route tree, struggles mightily against press coverage, and saw his average separation plummet to a league-worst 1.6 yards.
His stagnation was obvious on Day 1 of camp, where Hyatt was a complete afterthought. While a maybe-he's-not-over-the-hill-yet Odell Beckham Jr. looked sharp and a recovering Malik Nabers impressed on his first day back from an ACL injury, the fourth-year pro was invisible.
It doesn't help his case that rookie Malachi Fields continued turning heads with another highlight-reel play, and even kick returner Braxton Berrios had a strong day. Meanwhile, Hyatt wasn’t mentioned at all -- for anything good or bad -- which says a lot about where he currently stands in this receiver room.
It's time for a change of scenery. There's enough talent there -- and he's young enough -- that he'd find another home almost instantly.
When you're fighting for your roster life entering Year 4, being a ghost on the opening day of camp is the fastest way to become a former Giant. It's at the point where his performance isn't even moving the needle enough to get talked about. The G-Men can’t afford to keep chasing the “what if” anymore. It's time to finally pull the plug.
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