Couple of items about New England wide receivers recently. While former first-rounder N'Keal Harry is fighting for a roster spot, former undrafted free agent Jakobi Meyers is in the mix to be the team's No. 1. A stark reminder that while the Patriots can't draft wideouts, they've had some success uncovering undrafted guys.
New England handed out good contracts to Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne in the offseason, and the popular belief is probably that those guys will be the top 2 this year. Agholor is a former first-round pick who has a couple of 8-TD seasons to his credit, and comes off his best year with Las Vegas. So probably.
But Bourne was just an undrafted guy who had a red-zone role in San Francisco. He's not better than Meyers, and it's debatable whether Agholor is either. Despite playing in one of the league's very worst passing offenses a year ago, Meyers just had one of the better seasons by an undrafted wideout this century.
He's still looking for his first receiving touchdown, but he can't throw the ball to himself. Maybe he'll get that TD catch once the team elevates Mac Jones over Cam Newton (whose inclination near the goal line is to bull his way into the end zone rather than make a precise throw). In any case, Meyers finished as the 53rd-best wide receiver in PPR scoring a year ago. There have been 46 undrafted wideouts to have a better season since 2000, and most of those guys weren't working in passing games as comically inept as New England's last year.
Here's the list of top-55 (to get Meyers in) undrafted wideouts since 2000. I included each undrafted wideout's best season (cropping out their 2nd- or 3rd-best seasons, for guys who ranked in the top 55 more than once).
What was interesting to me was just how many guys with a New England connection (in bold) showed up on the list. Welker, Amendola (although his best season, just barely, was with the Rams), Patten and now Meyers. Bourne had a top-65 season, and he's also a Patriot now. In that time period, Deion Branch is the only wideout New England selected early that made an impact. The others are late picks (seventh-rounder Julian Edelman) or undrafted guys.
UNDRAFTED WRS, TOP-55 SEASONS (2000-2020) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
2000 | Rod Smith, Den. | 173 | 100 | 1602 | 9 | 324.1 | 2 |
2011 | Wes Welker, N.E. | 173 | 122 | 1569 | 9 | 335.9 | 2 |
2011 | Victor Cruz, NYG | 131 | 82 | 1536 | 9 | 289.9 | 3 |
2009 | Miles Austin, Dall. | 124 | 81 | 1320 | 11 | 278.8 | 6 |
2018 | Adam Thielen, Min. | 153 | 113 | 1373 | 9 | 309.3 | 7 |
2016 | Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 125 | 94 | 1128 | 7 | 253.8 | 8 |
2004 | Drew Bennett, Ten. | 144 | 80 | 1247 | 11 | 277.2 | 8 |
2006 | Mike Furrey, Det. | 146 | 98 | 1086 | 6 | 242.6 | 13 |
2008 | Lance Moore, N.O. | 121 | 79 | 928 | 10 | 231.8 | 15 |
2011 | Nate Washington, Ten. | 121 | 74 | 1023 | 8 | 224.8 | 15 |
2017 | Robby Anderson, NYJ | 114 | 63 | 941 | 7 | 200.0 | 18 |
2015 | Allen Hurns, Jac. | 105 | 64 | 1031 | 10 | 227.1 | 19 |
2016 | Tyrell Williams, S.D. | 119 | 69 | 1059 | 7 | 216.9 | 19 |
2000 | Wayne Chrebet, NYJ | 143 | 69 | 937 | 8 | 210.4 | 20 |
2010 | Davone Bess, Mia. | 125 | 79 | 820 | 5 | 190.7 | 23 |
2000 | Bill Schroeder, G.B. | 119 | 65 | 999 | 4 | 190.0 | 24 |
2018 | Adam Humphries, T.B. | 105 | 76 | 816 | 5 | 188.7 | 24 |
2001 | James Thrash, Phil. | 108 | 63 | 833 | 8 | 200.0 | 26 |
2020 | Cole Beasley, Buff. | 107 | 82 | 967 | 4 | 207.7 | 27 |
2017 | Jermaine Kearse, NYJ | 102 | 65 | 810 | 5 | 176.0 | 28 |
2000 | Oronde Gadsden, Mia. | 93 | 56 | 786 | 6 | 170.6 | 28 |
2015 | Kamar Aiken, Balt. | 127 | 75 | 944 | 5 | 199.4 | 29 |
2010 | Danny Amendola, St.L. | 123 | 85 | 689 | 3 | 180.0 | 30 |
2016 | Willie Snead, N.O. | 104 | 72 | 895 | 4 | 192.0 | 32 |
2002 | Brian Finneran, Atl. | 102 | 56 | 838 | 6 | 175.8 | 33 |
2013 | Rod Streater, Oak. | 100 | 60 | 888 | 4 | 174.5 | 33 |
2004 | David Patten, N.E. | 95 | 44 | 800 | 7 | 166.5 | 34 |
2000 | Az-Zahir Hakim, St.L. | 81 | 53 | 734 | 5 | 158.3 | 37 |
2016 | Cameron Meredith, Chi. | 97 | 66 | 888 | 4 | 183.5 | 38 |
2005 | Eric Parker, S.D. | 80 | 57 | 725 | 3 | 153.0 | 38 |
2012 | Malcom Floyd, S.D. | 85 | 56 | 814 | 5 | 167.4 | 38 |
2003 | Bobby Shaw, Buff. | 86 | 56 | 732 | 4 | 153.2 | 39 |
2011 | David Nelson, Buff. | 97 | 61 | 658 | 5 | 156.8 | 39 |
2000 | James McKnight, Dall. | 106 | 52 | 926 | 2 | 156.6 | 39 |
2018 | Taylor Gabriel, Chi. | 93 | 67 | 688 | 2 | 153.9 | 41 |
2002 | Derrius Thompson, Was. | 93 | 53 | 773 | 4 | 162.0 | 42 |
2010 | Anthony Armstrong, Was. | 86 | 44 | 871 | 3 | 149.1 | 43 |
2005 | Antonio Chatman, G.B. | 86 | 49 | 549 | 5 | 137.3 | 43 |
2020 | Tim Patrick, Den. | 79 | 51 | 742 | 6 | 161.2 | 44 |
2020 | Keelan Cole, Jac. | 88 | 55 | 642 | 6 | 155.4 | 47 |
2016 | Dontrelle Inman, S.D. | 97 | 58 | 810 | 4 | 163.0 | 47 |
2014 | Andrew Hawkins, Cle. | 112 | 63 | 824 | 2 | 158.9 | 48 |
2013 | Marlon Brown, Balt. | 82 | 49 | 524 | 7 | 145.2 | 48 |
2012 | Danario Alexander, S.D. | 62 | 37 | 658 | 7 | 144.8 | 49 |
2008 | Greg Camarillo, Mia. | 83 | 55 | 613 | 2 | 128.4 | 50 |
2013 | Jarrett Boykin, G.B. | 83 | 49 | 681 | 4 | 141.1 | 51 |
2020 | Jakobi Meyers, N.E. | 81 | 59 | 729 | 0 | 144.95 | 53 |
2019 | Zach Pascal, Ind. | 72 | 41 | 607 | 5 | 135.3 | 53 |
2002 | Tim Dwight, S.D. | 93 | 50 | 623 | 3 | 141.1 | 54 |
2014 | Andre Holmes, Oak. | 99 | 47 | 693 | 4 | 140.3 | 55 |
2011 | Josh Cribbs, Cle. | 67 | 41 | 518 | 5 | 125.3 | 55 |
I don't think anyone can be particularly enamored of New England's passing game this year. It'll be either Newton or a rookie, throwing to some lightly regarded wide receivers and two high-priced tight ends who could fight for relevance each week.
But while some will be selecting Agholor first, I'll be considering using a later pick on Meyers. Seems about as likely to be the team's best wide receiver this season.
--Andy Richardson