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An emerging star from the New England Patriots’ 2019 training camp is etching his name into the 53-man roster for good this season.
Jakobi Meyers, a 2019 undrafted free agent from NC State, was Cam Newton’s top target in a gut-wrenching 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 8. He led the team with six receptions for 58 yards — but, the impact he made felt like he produced much more.
Outside of Julian Edelman’s 179-yard game, Meyers was the only receiver to actually assert his dominance. The Bills quickly figured out that Meyers was Newton’s go-to guy, and they simply couldn’t guard him when they needed to. The Patriots had one active tight end, with Damiere Byrd and Gunner Olszewski as the only other receiving threats.
Given this information, the Bills had all the flexibility to narrow in on Meyers and take him out of the gameplan. The way this season is going, most teams are successful at eliminating specific players on the Patriots’ offense. One player that’s been successfully boxed out of the gameplan this season has been N’Keal Harry, who missed Week 8 with a concussion.
Leading to the question, why is the undrafted guy creating more separation and providing more of a threat than the former first-rounder?
It simply comes down to route running and Harry’s inability to do it. Former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria, who spent 13 years in the league, said that Harry was the ‘worst route-runner in the history of the world.’ While that assessment is extremely harsh and somewhat farfetched, it holds some truth.
In 2019, Harry created an average of 2.2 yards of separation per route and that’s not a feasible way to thrive in the NFL. At Arizona State, he was a much bigger receiver that made huge plays in the red zone typically. Harry was a glorified tight end that had 6-foot-4 size to bring him to the next level. In the NFL, that method simply doesn’t work.
When it comes to Meyers, he’s a smooth route-runner that creates separation on nearly every play. He also has the mental part of the game down, especially for being a Patriot.
“I come to work every day, I try to practice as hard as I can, be alert as I can in meetings, know everybody’s responsibilities, so God forbid, we have a guy go down, I can jump in if they need me to,” Meyers said. “I try to build trust with the coaches every day. I just try to come in and be a better person and better player every day.”
New England first activated Meyers off the roster last week and he came through with four catches for 60 yards. He’s only been activated three times now, but he’s setting up to be a lock for the 53-man roster, at least through the rest of the season.
It’s very likely that Bill Belichick isn’t willing to give up on the only receiver he drafted in the first round through his 20-year tenure with the Patriots. But, Meyers is proving that Harry will have a hard time of being the guy he was expected to be.
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