Meyers Money: Does Patriots Undrafted WR Compare to 2019 Class?

Although undrafted, Jakobi Meyers has put up a productive career thus far.

FOXBORO - There is something about the glitz and the glamor that draws people towards drafted players in the NFL. The eight-figure contracts, the fancy suits and welcome parties.

What gets underappreciated on draft night is what happens after - the players who squeak through the cracks and still play a productive role in an NFL locker room.

Take Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers. He was not selected in the 2019 Draft, but has outshined a number of players who were taken at his position. With the deadline for Meyers to sign his offer from New England approaching this week, surely his agent has his relative performance in mind.

For starters, it is best to look inwards at his own teammate, N’Keal Harry. Taken with the final pick in the first round, Harry has struggled to make his mark in this Patriots offense and has amassed four career touchdowns in 33 games. While Meyers only has hit paydirt twice, the former N.C. State product laps Harry in total yards, leading him by 1,356 yards.

Another player that Meyers is ahead of in receiving yards is Kansas City’s Mecole Hardman. The Chiefs spent the 56th overall pick on Hardman, who has 42 less career grabs in three more games.

Darius Slayton, someone who heard his name called during the draft, has been a promising player for the New York Giants, but statistically does not match up to Meyers. Slayton has 44 less catches in his three seasons and is quite a number of yards behind as well.

While Meyers may not put up the jaw-dropping numbers that an A.J. Brown or a DK Metcalf might record on a weekly basis, he has carved out a quality role for a Patriots offense that has featured three different starting quarterbacks in his three years as a Patriot.

Now, it is always fun to look at the cream of the crop. Meyers does lead a number of those star pass catchers in an important statistic. Meyers’ 67.7 catch percentage, a sign of sure-fire hands, leads Philadelphia’s Brown and Pittsburgh’s Diontae Johnson by five percent, Seattle’s Metcalf by 7.4 percent and Washington’s Terry McLaurin by 5.5 percent.

Meyers currently is a restricted free agent, who has yet to sign his RFA tender heading into the 2022 season. He has expressed that he wants to stay in New England for a considerable time, so expect some more productivity from the slot position.