2023 NFL Draft: Is Jalin Hyatt the big-play WR the Bears are missing?

The Chicago Bears hold the most powerful pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Armed with the No. 1 overall selection, general manager Ryan Poles is expected to trade down with a team searching for their next franchise quarterback. Early odds have the Bears swapping picks with the Indianapolis Colts and sliding down to No. 4 while adding another second-round pick and potentially an early Day-3 selection to their arsenal.

It’s just one of many trade possibilities for Ples and the Chicago Bears.

The Bears could end up trading down more than once in the first round, and if they do, it’ll increase the odds that a wide receiver becomes Chicago’s first selection. There aren’t any receivers in this year’s draft that warrant top-10 consideration, but if Poles stacks multiple first-round trades together and ends up with a mid-to-late first-rounder, a wide receiver or two could emerge as viable options.

One of those players may be former Tennessee Volunteer Jalin Hyatt.

Hyatt (6’0, 185 pounds) ended the 2022 season as college football’s Biletnikoff Award Winner after totaling 67 catches for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns. It was a massive breakout season for a player whose previous career highs were 276 yards and two scores.

Jalin Hyatt is a dynamic wide receiver with excellent speed and quickness. He is a deep threat who can stretch the field and make big plays in the passing game. Hyatt has the ability to get open and create separation with his speed, and he has the hands to make tough catches in traffic. He is a fluid athlete with good body control and footwork.

One of Hyatt’s biggest strengths is his acceleration off the line of scrimmage. He has the burst to get past defenders and create separation early in his route. He also has the long speed to outrun defenders down the field, and he has the ability to track the ball over his shoulder and make difficult catches on deep throws.

Hyatt isn’t a one-trick pony. While speed and downfield playmaking is his calling card, he has enough lateral athleticism to shake defenders on out-breaking routes and can leave cornerbacks in his dust on crossing patterns and drag routes. He’ll need to develop a more well-rounded route tree in the NFL, but there’s reason to be optimistic that he can develop into more than just a downfield guy on the next level.

One area where Hyatt can improve is his physicality. He has adequate height and length but could add more strength to better fight through press coverage and win contested catches. Hyatt is on the leaner side of wide receiver body types, and while adding weight isn’t recommended because of the potential negative impact it could have on his speed, he has to get stronger.

Overall, Jalin Hyatt is an exciting prospect with big-play ability and the potential to develop into a reliable NFL receiver. I’m not sure he’s a first-round guy, although some NFL Draft analysts like NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein have sung his praises lately.

For the Bears, Hyatt would complement a bigger, stronger Chase Claypool and a more refined route runner like Darnell Mooney. In fact, Jalin Hyatt would likely be a No. 3 option in Chicago’s passing game and serve as the club’s downfield threat. It’s a role that would have a lot of value, but not nearly enough to justify a first-round selection.

Hyatt would be a good target for the Chicago Bears at No. 53 overall, the second-round pick they received from the Baltimore Ravens in the Roquan Smith trade. If he gets drafted by a team craving his speed in the first round, so be it. It would be a reach. I’m more comfortable with Hyatt as a Day-2 pick whose value is best maximized in the middle-to-later portion of the second round.

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