Someday, in the not-too-distant future, New York Giants fans will tell the younger generations cautionary tales from a time when watching Giants football felt like a punishment. They'll go into great detail about the poor roster construction, coaching hires, and overall organizational mismanagement that plagued the team for years.
If they’re lucky, they might even hear the what-could-have-been story of Jalin Hyatt.
The Giants traded up in the 2023 Draft to select the 24-year-old with the 73rd pick in the 2023 Draft. The Tennessee standout was known for his blistering downfield speed, but his athletic profile has yet to translate to any success in the NFL, and all signs are pointing to the once-promising draft pick's time in NY is quickly coming to an end.
Related: Once-promising Giants draft pick may have one foot out the door in NY
And then it finally happened. Before Sunday's 16-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the team announced the 2022 Biletnikoff Award winner was a healthy scratch. Not injured. Just benched. That might’ve been the final nail in his Giants career.
Joe Schoen’s decision to trade up for Jalin Hyatt is aging poorly
It's been an underwhelming career for the young receiver. Through three seasons, he has played in more games (41) than he has receptions (36).
That's 0.87 receptions per game. Not exactly 53-man roster-level stuff. And while that's objectively terrible, perhaps the biggest indictment of the third-year pro is the fact that backup quarterback Jameis Winston has more career touchdown receptions than the South Carolina native, with a whopping one.
That's right, Hyatt has yet to record a single touchdown reception through three seasons.
Making matters worse for both parties is that Schoen had received trade calls in the offseason from wide receiver-needy teams looking to take a flier on the underachieving speedster. Instead of bringing back some draft capital, he kept Hyatt on the roster all season long, knowing the entire time it was a failed experiment.
Malik Nabers went down with a torn ACL in Week 4, and Darius Slayton missed some time this season with a hamstring injury, creating the perfect opportunity for the former Volunteer to make a name for himself.
Instead, he routinely gave up on plays when he did see the field, and the front office decided to bring in Steelers practice squad receiver -- and former Giant -- Isaiah Hodgins to fill in the gap.
To say things have blown up in Schoen’s face would be putting it lightly. Not only did he trade up for a wideout who’s done next to nothing, but the pick he sent to the LA Rams turned into Kobie Turner -- a third-place finisher for Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 who’s playing like an All-Pro this year and would’ve been a perfect running mate for Dexter Lawrence up front.
Just another Joe Schoen draft pick fueling the flames of the Giants’ never-ending dumpster fire.