ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote a column last week naming Raiders’ wide receiver Jakobi Meyers as a potential trade candidate as the NFL’s November 4 trade deadline approaches.
Schefter didn’t expand on Meyers’ trade status, but his colleague, Jeremy Fowler, offered a little more information about Meyers this week.
“Teams I’ve spoken to believe the Raiders are open to trading wide receiver Jakobi Meyers but are not actively trying to move him,” Fowler reported on Wednesday. “The sense is the Raiders would prefer to play out the season before making major determinations about the roster. But Meyers requested a trade in the preseason, so a potential deal feels at least on the table.”
Meyers is on a slower pace this year in terms of productivity, and projects to finish the season about 100 receiving yards behind last year.
Maybe the biggest issue for Meyers in terms of his long-term future with the Raiders, though, is the emergence of Tre Tucker and the presence of two rookies in the wide receiver room.
Tucker has outproduced Meyers in the first six games of the season and Tucker still has another year remaining on his rookie deal. Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton haven’t set the world on fire this year, but both rookies figure to be a part of the team’s long-term plan at wide receiver.
On Sunday, Tucker led the Raiders in receptions (5) and receiving yards (70), and CBS analyst Jonathan made a notable claim about Tucker after a 37-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
“That connection… between Geno [Smith] and Tre Tucker, he is their no. 1,” Vilma said on the CBS broadcast. “Jakobi Meyers, Chip Kelly may tell me that, but Jakobi Meyers is not no. 1, it’s Tre Tucker. Geno has a favorite guy and that’s him.”
Another interesting statement on Tucker came from offensive coordinator Chip Kelly last week.
According to Kelly, Tucker has been the team’s best practice player to this point in the season.
“He’s been great, and I think he’s probably our best practice player,” Kelly said of Tucker, with no other qualifying statement.
“We always talk about you sync to your level of training. And he trains at such a high level, he’s playing at such a high level. And it’s a great point for all, especially our young players, that you can kind of point out that what you see out of Tre every day, and holy smokes, when you look at the GPS numbers and what he’s running in practice and doing, and then all of a sudden you turn on the tape and he’s doing the same exact thing….”
“He’s got these three or four passes over 20, getting behind people, but that’s what he does in practice, also. He’s kind of that what you want to show as a guy, like this is how you practice, that means this is how you’re going to play. And he’s a great example of that.”
The reality of the Meyers’ situation is the Raiders might get a draft pick in return for him whether he’s traded or not.
If Meyers leaves after the season as a free agent, the Raiders would be in line for a compensatory pick, and there’s a chance their compensatory pick would be worth more than what teams will be offering ahead of the trade deadline.
So while a Meyers trade might make sense for everyone involved, there is also reason for the Raiders to hold onto him through the end of the season. With so many young receivers on the roster, Meyers might not be a part of the long-term plan in Las Vegas, but there are still plenty of scenarios remaining where he would play out the remainder of the season in Vegas.
x: @raidersbeat
Any reduction, from last year to this year, in Meyers productivity is solely due to the play, or better yet the lack thereof, of the quarterback and offensive coordinator. Meyers skills and abilities have not diminished one iota but the play of the offensive line and subsequently the play of the quarterback have been, and continue to be, the sole impediment to Myers putting up outstanding numbers. If he’s traded then so be it but let’s call it what it is. This team’s offensive line is inept. This team’s quarterback play is putrid and no offensive coordinator, including Chip Kelly can be effective with substandard players. It’s the personnel stupid!
It hasn’t been mentioned but hasn’t Bowers play dropped off sightly, as well. I know he’s been banged up, but it appears that his numbers were lower before the injury, as well. That could, as u mentioned, be due to a new QB and stystem.
The article hit the nail on the head, unless the team gets a better draft pick in a trade than they would via a compensatory pick, Jacoby stays till season’s end. But knowing that, a team may offer a better pick, just depends on the need urgency.