Jakobi Meyers was traded to the Jaguars for a fourth and sixth round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Speaking on his skillset, GM James Gladstone said, “I think from afar it does. You think about where we’re at in terms of volume of drops, what’s his superpower? It’s not dropping the football, right? So you just take it from the surface level, it seems fitting.” This is also a bit of a subtle jab at the rest of the receivers.

Meyers has dropped only 11 passes in 98 NFL games and has never dropped more than two passes in the same season. He should clearly get plenty of looks given his ability and the fact that Jacksonville has many injuries on its WR corp.

Meyers’ motivation should be sky-high

Meyers desperately wanted to get traded from the Raiders. In fact, he requested a trade before the season started. Now, he got his wish and gets to play under a brilliant offensive mind in Liam Coen.

Meyers was overlooked this season. He went from WR1 to almost ignored in the Raiders. He has 33 catches for 352 yards. In fact, he hasn’t gotten more than four catches since Week 2. He is also yet to score a touchdown this season.

Meyers is a volume guy

Meyers is not a deep threat. He is more of a volume, short-to-medium route receiver. This could also help unleash Brian Thomas Jr.’s speed on deep routes. BTJ has been really underwhelming this year but Meyers could be the key piece to open the window for BTJ to explode.

The Jaguars are having a positive season and the playoffs are on the horizon. However, the offensive production has been lacking due to the drops. The Jaguars lead the NFL in dropped passes with 30. The next has just 21. Meyers will clearly solve this issue to some degree.

Replacing one of the most explosive receivers in the league will not be an easy task, and this is something the Raiders’ facilities are well aware of. In fact, many even went so far as to predict that it may take several players to fill the void left by Meyers.

Chip Kelly, a seasoned NFL veteran and current offensive coordinator on Pete Carroll’s staff, spoke to the press about Tuesday’s events and expressed regret over the departure of one of his favorite offensive players.

“It’s got to be multiple guys,” Kelly said, via SI.com. “Jakobi was such an impact player for us, so I wish him the best. He was a great practice player, and I enjoyed coaching him.

“He’s a heck of a kid, but we’re going to have to – you got some other receivers, they’re going to have to pick it up, and then you move on. The way you look at it sometimes as we have to approach it. It’s like a player got hurt, he’s out of a game, then what do you do? It’s the next guy’s up.”

Geno Smith’s options in the WR room

The Las Vegas Raiders’ wide receiver depth chart has undergone a significant shakeup following the trade of veteran Jakobi Meyers. The new-look group sees young talents Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Tre Tucker elevated to the top of the rotation, setting them up for increased targets.

Veteran Tyler Lockett provides a crucial, experienced presence, while Jack Bech and Alex Bachman round out the receiving options, vying for snaps and looking to prove their value in the post-Meyers era.

What’s next for the Raiders?

After a gut-wrenching overtime loss to the Jaguars, the Las Vegas Raiders face a daunting slate of games that will test the team’s resolve. The Raiders must quickly regroup for a pivotal divisional clash on the road against the Denver Broncos.

That is immediately followed by two challenging home contests at Allegiant Stadium: first hosting the storied Dallas Cowboys, and then taking on the Cleveland Browns. These next three matchups are critical for the Raiders to stay competitive in the AFC playoff picture.

According to NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Steelers made calls for wide receiver Jakobi Meyers before the Jaguars acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a fourth and a sixth-round draft pick.

“The Bills and Steelers were among the teams that inquired about Jakobi Meyers. Ultimately, Jacksonville — who placed Travis Hunter on IR last week – seals a deal for the ex-Raider,” Russini wrote on X.

Meyers, 28, emerged as one of the biggest wide receivers on the market after requesting a trade out of Las Vegas in October. His decision came as a consequence of not getting an extension by the Raiders.

Meyers would’ve been useful, but Steelers already got help for Rodgers

Meyers’ current deal, which has a base salary of $10.5 million, expires at the end of the 2025 NFL season. While this would’ve been a situation to watch for the Steelers, his arrival could’ve still been worthy for an immediate impact.

In 98 career games between his four years on the New England Patriots and two-and-a-half seasons with the Raiders, Meyers has caught 426 passes for 4944 yards with 20 touchdowns. He’s coming off a 1,027-yard season in 2024, with 33 receptions for 352 yards in seven games this year.

With the Steelers needing a dependable WR2 for Rodgers behind DK Metcalf, Meyers would’ve been a great addition. However, it appears that general manager Omar Khan already saw this one coming.

On Tuesday, the Steelers confirmed the arrival of Super Bowl champion Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who’s initially joining the practice squad but might be elevated by Tomlin soon as the wideout has experience playing with Rodgers.

Meyers boosts Lawrence’s options in Jacksonville

In the meantime, the Jaguars are the ones benefitting from Meyers’ trade request. With him, Jacksonville adds a key weapon for Lawrence after placing rookie Travis Hunter on injured reserve.

Hunter is expected to be back later in the season, but four weeks without him already leave a huge hole in the Jaguars WR depth chart, which also includes Brian Thomas, Jr., Dyami Brown, Parker Washington, and Tim Patrick.

Meyers is joining the team he last played in a Raiders uniform, as he made four catches for 23 yards in 57 snaps played against Jacksonville on Sunday. Meyers will be a Jaguar now, but with his deal expiring in March, perhaps the Steelers have a second chance to get him next year.

The Jaguars’ depth chart has been updated following the trade. Since Travis Hunter was placed on IR last week, Meyers joins Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown as the top three healthy options at wide receiver, with Tim Patrick and Parker Washington running just behind them.

For his part, Geno Smith now has a depleted wide receiver room, as Meyers had been one of his primary targets. The Raiders‘ quarterback will now have to rely on Tre Tucker and Dont’e Thornton Jr. as his top options, with Alex Bachman, Tyler Lockett, and Jack Bech further down the depth chart.

The wide receiver’s urgent desire to leave Pete Carroll’s team drew the attention of several top franchises, including the Steelers and Bills. In the end, it’s the fans in Duval who get to enjoy a new power duo in Jakobi Meyers and Trevor Lawrence.

Jaguars add talent and firepower to offense

“ESPN sources: Raiders are trading WR Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for fourth- and sixth-round picks,” announced NFL insider Adam Schefter via his X account. Meyers is now a member of the Jaguars, and many are already excited about the team’s chances of staying on track this season.

Meyers is fresh off a career season with the Raiders in 2024, where he established personal bests with 87 receptions and 1,027 receiving yards. His proven consistency and ability to secure key catches provide a much-needed boost for the Jaguars’ offense as it navigate multiple recent injuries at the wideout position.

He was was also a consistent target for the Raiders’ quarterback Geno Smith through the first nine weeks of the 2025 season, recording 33 receptions for 352 receiving yards, though he has yet to record a receiving touchdown.

Being handed a donut is not good in the NFL. Being embarrassed by your most hated rival is also critical. But hey, Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll wants to forget all that as the team goes into a bye week and focus on recovering Geno Smith‘s weapons like Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Carroll said that Bowers and Meyers should return for November 2nd against the Jaguars, which is after the team’s bye. The Raiders just lost 31-0 to the Chiefs, so they desperately need both of them back.

Geno Smith also had an awful outing statistically. Without two of his best weapons, Smith completed only 10 of 16 passes for 67 yards. The Raiders, as a whole, had a total 95 yards in the game and averaged 3.2 yards per play.

Bowers and Meyers have been underwhelming

Jakobi Meyers has 329 yards and Brock Bowers had 225 yards. None of them have a touchdown. They are supposed to be the best two receivers on the roster and are having low outputs.

Now, Bowers have been playing with a knee injury, but in all fairness, it’s one of two options. First, Geno Smith is not executing the playbook properly. Second, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly might not be doing a good job scheming the offense.

The Raiders are one of the season’s biggest disappointments

This team was placed by many analysts and pundits to be in the playoffs. The Raiders are 2-5, can’t their offensive footing, have scored 10 or less points three times this year… the list goes on and on.

However, the defense is not great either. Raiders have allowed 25 points or more four times this year. It’s a team that is not doing great in any sort of level. With the Raiders’ playoff hopes all but gone, now it’s time to try to righten the ship before panic sets in.

The wide receiver hit the open market this offseason, eventually signing for the Las Vegas Raiders as a free agent to help Jimmy Garoppolo. Meanwhile, New England landed former Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster.

While he comes from a successful season in Kansas City, many believe the 3-year, $33 million deal he received was too much. Additionally, there are also those who think it was better to keep Meyers. Former Patriots safety Devin McCourty, for instance, is one of them.

Patriots legend Devin McCourty preferredJakobi Meyers over JuJu Smith-Schuster

“I’m not going to lie, I would have liked to see Jakobi back over JuJu,”McCourty said on the Green Light with Chris Longpodcast, via PatriotsWire. “Just my personal feeling. I just think Jakobi is a guy, he’s an undrafted free agent who panned out because of hard work.

“…To me, when you have guys like that, when you look at Jakobi, you can guess that his better years are still in front of him. I just think having that in the locker room for young guys, and I think especially in that [receiver] room over the years—you lose [Julian] Edelman, we haven’t replaced that room with a guy who is New England culture. You just don’t have it.”

Meyers is certainly an example of hard work paying off. Having joined the Patriots as an undrafted rookie in 2019, he eventually made his way to the roster as WR1. However, after a season with no playoffs, it’s understandable the team is taking other things into account.