Jakobi Meyers enters his fifth NFL season after spending four with the New England Patriots, and he has yet to really put it all together for fantasy football managers. Meyers’ career, of course, started with the historic scoreless drought (no player has opened a career with more catches or receiving yards before finding paydirt for the first time), but he scored six times last season and averaged a tick under five catches per game over the past two seasons.
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Jakobi Meyers’ Fantasy Outlook
Meyers is coming off a season in which he set a new career-high in receiving yards per game and scored three times as many touchdowns as he had in his career prior, momentum that he is looking to bring with him to Vegas.
In Mick Lombardi’s first season as the team’s offensive coordinator, the Raiders passed at an above-average rate despite Josh Jacobs’ success on the ground. Driving home that point was the fact that they ranked eighth in pass rate when playing with a lead, a stat that highlights the confidence Lombardi has in his system after being on NFL sidelines for a decade. You love to see it.
All expectations are for Meyers to overtake Hunter Renfrow in the slot this season, and after Davante Adams, this is a WR room that lacks much in the way of competition.
Can Meyers Be More Than a Bye-Week Filler?
I think he can be, yeah! Meyers ranks 12th in slot receptions over the past two seasons and has run 57% of his career routes from the slot. His skill set is no secret, and it fits like a glove for this Vegas offense that saw Renfrow run nearly 86% of his routes from that position.
In fact, Renfrow’s 25 slot routes per game ranked fifth in the NFL, something that hints to me that Meyers will have plenty of chances to earn targets. Sign me up!
Having a defined role is one thing, having a quarterback that is more than capable of maximizing that role is another … and Meyers has that.
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During his time with the 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo’s slot numbers (from yards per attempt to touchdown rate to passer rating) essentially mirror those of Patrick Mahomes. Yes, that Patrick Mahomes.
The last part of the equation is identifying favorable game scripts. Not only will the Raiders need to keep up with the Chargers/Chiefs for four games a year, but their out-of-division schedule sees them face the AFC East and the NFC North, divisions with multiple teams that are going to require you to score to keep up with.
I’m not here to suggest that Meyers is going to light up fantasy scoreboards, but he should offer a nice floor with occasional upside, and in most leagues, that’s enough.
Should Fantasy Managers Draft Meyers at His ADP?
Meyers will go well outside of the top 100 players in your draft, and that makes him an easy buy for me. At the very least, we are confident in his role, and that is something we really don’t have for the other receivers in his ADP tier (the Ravens receivers and Jameson Williams, for example).
If you’re considering running backs in Meyers’ range, they are all backups at this point that won’t enter the season with enough of a projected role to be considered for your starting lineup. I’m comfortable taking Meyers in the 10th round and not looking back!