Getty Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt is being tabbed as potential target for the Ravens in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
On the opening night of the last year’s NFL Draft on Thursday, April 28, 2022, the Baltimore Ravens obliged the request of former first-round wide receiver Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown to be traded.
They dealt him to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for the No. 25 overall pick which ironically was the same slot they took him in 2019 and used the extra first-round pick to select Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum who started every game and had a standout rookie season.
As great as that pick turned out, general manager Eric DeCosta didn’t replace their primary deep threat and first wide receiver to top 1,000 receiving yards since 2016. In his first three-round mock draft, NFL.com’s Chad Reuter predicted that DeCosta and the Ravens would rectify that mistake and land their missing field-stretching speed merchant by trading back a couple of spots and still manage to land Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt.
“For the third time in five years, the Ravens select a receiver in the first round,” he wrote. “After trading Marquise Brown (No. 25 overall, 2019) during Thursday night’s festivities last year, Baltimore could be looking for a speedster to play with 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman (No. 27). Hyatt possesses the pure speed to stretch defenses vertically.”
After picking a whopping 11 players last year, the Ravens only currently have just five selections in this year’s draft and Reuter has the team acquiring more picks and providing newly hired offensive coordinator Todd Monken a blazing vertical threat to pair with his MVP-winning quarterback, Lamar Jackson.
In his trade prediction, the Ravens swap first-round picks with the New York Giants to move from No. 22 to No. 25 for the third time in the last five years, and in exchange, they get gain an extra third-round pick while sending their sixth-round pick at No. 199.
Hyatt was the 2022 Biletnikoff Award winner which is given to college football’s most outstanding receiver regardless of position after a breakout junior season for the Vols. In 12 games, he recorded a career-high 67 passes for 1,267 receiving yards which was the fifth most in the nation, and 15 receiving touchdowns which tied for the second most in the country and averaged 18.9 yards per catch per Sports Reference.
Jalin Hyatt ranked in the 99th percentile in separation and separation vs. single coverage in 2022 via @PFF.
Monken’s lone season calling plays at the NFL level despite being an offensive coordinator for two different teams in four years was in 2018 with Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That year, three-time Pro Bowler and eventual former Raven, DeSean Jackson, averaged a league-leading 18.9 yards per catch as the dangerous speed element in one of the NFL’s most explosive passing attacks.
Ravens Add Pass Rush Help & Pass Catching RB in 3rd Round
Despite not having a second-round pick this year as it currently stands due to the acquisition of First-Team All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith at the midseason deadline, the team was still able to make two selections on Day 2 of the draft as a result of the projected trade with the Giants.
With their original pick in the round at No. 86 overall, he has them selecting former Notre Dame standout edge defender Isaiah Foskey. Their last selection of a Fighting Irish outside linebacker, Daelin Hayes in the fifth round in 2021, has yet to pan out.
However, the Ravens have found success finding difference makers from that program in recent years with the most notable being All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley and defensive back Kyle Hamilton who they took in the first round last year and was excellent in the second half of his rookie season.
Foskey comes with pedigree and production, two traits the team looks for and believes translate to the next level. He is spoken about very highly among his teammates, coaches, and scouts and recorded back-to-back seasons of 10 or more sacks in 2021 and 2022 according to Sports Reference.
#NotreDame EDGE Isaiah Foskey (6-5, 260, rJR) is one of the more refined rushers that I’ve watched so far. His favorite move is a long arm-slap that’s very effective.
Foskey looks to not only generate pressure/sacks, but create turnovers at the same time (6 FFs in 2021).
With the uncertainty of the return of 2022 sack leader, Justin Houston, due to Jackson’s contract situation, the draft could be the place where the team looks to replenish their ranks on the edge and several other key positions.
Reuter has the Ravens using the pick they received from the Giants that originally belonged to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 100 overall to reunite Monken with one of the most dynamic players from his tenure at Georgia by taking running back Kenny McIntosh. The former Bulldog standout was one of the best pass catchers at his position that could run routes and make plays in space coming out of the backfield as well as lining up in the slot as a receiver.
McIntosh recorded over 1,300 yards and scored 12 combined touchdowns from scrimmage during Georgia’s second-straight title run in 2022 per Sports Reference. He led the team in rushing with a career-high 829 yards and tied Heisman finalist Stetson Bennett for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with a career-high 10 and caught 43 passes for 505 receiving yards and a pair of scores as well.
Former Ravens 1st Round Pick Set to Make XFL Debut
The second relaunch of the XFL will take place this weekend under new management and ownership this time around with games on Saturday and Sunday. The rosters for the eight teams in the league consist of NFL hopefuls looking for a return or way into the league as well as washouts looking to still be close to the game.
Baltimore Beatdown’s Kyle Barber combed through each team’s roster to compile a list of former Ravens players that are in this alternate league and most notable among the 13 that he found was former first-round safety, Matt Elam who will be playing for the Orlando Guardians.
13 former Baltimore Ravens players on 2023 XFL rosters
The Ravens selected him at No. 32 overall out of the University of Florida and he last played in the NFL in 2016 which was his final year with the team. During his four-year stint with the team, he struggled to stay on the field due to injury and poor performance.
He recorded 131 total tackles including 6 for loss, half a sack, 3 quarterback hits, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception, and 7 pass deflections in 41 career games that included 26 starts per Pro Football Reference. Elam played for the D.C. Defenders in the first relaunch of the XFL in 2020 before the pandemic hit.
This sideline angle of that Matt Elam interception is 😍
Only two teams don’t have a former Ravens player on the roster and while geographically, the Seattle Sea Dragons being one of them somewhat makes sense being on opposite coasts, the D.C. Defenders who represent Maryland being the other was a little head-scratching. The team with the most is the Arlington Renegades with five which is three more than the next closest.
Here’s the full list:
Arlington Renegades
LB Aaron Adeoye
LB Otaro Alaka
WR Sean Modster
LB Donald Payne
DB Will Hill
Houston Roughnecks
DE Chauncey Rivers
Orlando Guardians
DT Gerald Willis
S Matt Elam
San Antonio Brahmas
CB Terrell Bonds
St. Louis Battlehawks
WR Jaylen Smith (injured reserve)
OL Jaryd Jones-Smith
Vegas Vipers
OL Kahlil McKenzie
OL Isaiah Williams