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Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt entering 2023 NFL Draft, skipping Orange Bowl

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Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt will enter the 2023 NFL Draft and skip the Orange Bowl game against Clemson to begin preparing, he announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Hyatt had 67 receptions for 1,267 yards this season, which ranks fourth in the FBS. He is tied for first in the nation for receiving touchdowns (15) and won the Biletnikoff Award last week.
  • The Irmo, SC, native had a career day on Oct. 15 against Alabama, scoring five touchdowns with six receptions for 207 yards.
  • The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranked Hyatt as the No. 37 prospects for the 2023 draft in his midseason rankings.

Scouting report

A prospect who has emerged as a big-play weapon, Hyatt is raw in areas, especially as an underneath receiver. But his elite vertical speed and confidence in his hands are two elements worth betting on for his long-term projection. — Brugler

Hyatt’s legacy at Tennessee

Hyatt showed flashes of promise in an anemic offense in 2020 and looked like a prime breakout candidate in a more wide-open scheme under Josh Heupel in 2021. But it didn’t happen and he needed to learn how to escape press coverage and get stronger to do so. Once he did? He exploded with a season no one could have predicted.

Cedric Tillman’s midseason injury meant more of the offense needed to run through Hyatt and he established himself as a household name with a five-touchdown, 207-yard game in Tennessee’s win over Alabama. He finished the year with five 100-yard games and led the nation with 15 touchdown catches. No one else in the Power 5 had more than 12.

Hyatt did not come to Tennessee to play in Heupel’s offense, but their unexpected marriage produced incredible results and Tennessee’s first Biletnikoff Award winner. Hyatt will leave Rocky Top as a legend. — Ubben

Required reading

(Photo: Randy Sartin / USA Today)

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