It is often a bit overblown to label an upcoming season as “crucial’’ or as “decisive’’ or the ever-popular “career-defining’’ for a young player trying to make his way in the NFL.
Sure, every season is important but not every season is all-important, when it comes to determining whether that player will make it in the league or fall by the wayside.
After a sluggish and largely disappointing rookie season for Jalin Hyatt, it was trendy to anoint 2024 as a critical one. The skinny wide receiver did little in Year 1 to justify the Giants’ belief that they acquired a steal on the second day of the 2023 NFL Draft when they traded their third-round pick (No. 89 overall) and a fourth-round pick (No. 128) to move up in the third round to No. 73 to get Hyatt, who was coming off a sensational season at Tennessee with a school-record 15 touchdown receptions, including five in one game against Alabama — another school record.
Those exploits feel as if they happened a long, long time ago, as does the verbiage from general manager Joe Schoen after he made the deal for Hyatt: “It was a good player that we liked that was kind of sticking out on our board. He ran 4.3 and some change, and you could feel his speed on film. I mean, that’s legit.’’
