Do you have a player in your dynasty team(s) that you are holding on to against all odds?
For me, that’s New England’s wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
No, he certainly isn’t the greatest fantasy asset. He finished the 2021 season as a low-end WR3 in PPR formats, and will will now face increased competition for targets this year. There are certainly more attractive players than Meyers.
But here’s the deal - I actually drafted him in the 2019 rookie draft. In the third round, no less. Nobody had him on their draft boards. He was unranked in most expert rankings. And yet, I felt very comfortable spending my 3.08 pick on him.
He came into the league as an UDFA, and while some had considered him a day 3 candidate for the 2019 NFL draft, it was not a huge surprise that he went undrafted. He was then scooped up by the New England Patriots, who had just spent a first round pick on N’Keal Harry. So Meyers had “training camp material only” tattooed all over his forehead.
But he got a few snaps in the preseason games, and caught my attention there. He made a contested catch in which he displayed fantastic hands, great adjustment and broke a mid-air double tackle. And he was targeted a couple of times when obviously a designed play hadn’t worked out, QB was on the run looking for an emergency solution, and suddenly found an open Meyers.
Still, everybody was sure he wouldn’t make the 53 man roster. And even if he did, he’d be worthless, because the New England QB back then was still Tom Brady. And the GOAT never utilized rookie receivers.
I wasn’t sure, though. I saw a WR who looked NFL ready. A receiver who could stand his ground against NFL defenders. A receiver who could not just run routes, but was also able to improvise, when his QB needed help. I later learned that he was a QB himself in highschool, and had even joined Cam Newton’s talent camp.
I saw a sleeper in Meyers. So I took my chances and drafted him. And he did make the 53 man roster. And he drew 41 targets in his rookie season, that he turned into 26 catches for 359 yards, which was a lot more than what N’Keal Harry saw in his rookie season.
So I kept Meyers in 2020, and saw him gain some FLEX appeal in his sophomore season, while Harry didn’t even reach Meyers’ rookie numbers in his second year in the NFL.
2021 was Meyers’ best year yet, even though the lack of red zone targets limits his upside significantly. But he racked up a respectable 866 yards, while Harry vanished in obscurity.
So here we are in 2022. Meyers got new competition for targets when the Patriots added DeVante Parker during the offseason. Along with Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor, second-round pick Tyquan Thornton and the TE duo Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, Meyers will struggle to draw 126 targets once more.
I’ll still hold on to him. Meyers has proven himself against presumably superior competition before. I don’t see why he can’t do it again. Do I expect him to take another step forward? Not necessarily. Would I recommend to trade for him? Only if you can get him with a discount.
But you won’t get that discount from me. I drafted Meyers when most fantasy managers hadn’t even heard his name. I held on to him when all experts said he’ll be gone soon. Meyers is my guy. Gut feeling is rarely a good advisor in fantasy football, but it served me well with Meyers. And so he’ll be on my roster for yet another year.
Do you have one of these “against all odds” players on your dynasty rosters?