Jakobi Meyers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Athletic's Chad Graff lists WR Kendrick Bourne as a "faller" and WR Nelson Agholor as a "riser." Graff believes Bourne is now behind Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker and Agholor on the depth chart. Agholor "has been the Patriots’ best wide receiver in most practices and has shown an improved connection with Jones," Graff writes. We're not overly interested in any of these guys as draft targets, but we'll continue to monitor the pecking order.

Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton suffered a collarbone injury in Friday night's preseason game, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Rapoport doesn't say Thornton's collarbone is broken, but it sure sounds like that's the case. Thornton's season is "now put on hold, though based on his timetable, the injury to the speedster is not season ending." We'll look for a more concrete timeline, but Thornton isn't worth a roster spot in redraft leagues. His absence leaves Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor as New England's clear top 4 WRs.

Update: NFL Network's Mike Giardi reports that Thornton is expected to miss "around 8 weeks."

Patriots WR Nelson Agholor (concussion) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Bills. WR Kendrick Bourne remains on the COVID list and is unlikely to play this weekend. WR N'Keal Harry (hip) is listed as questionable after a limited week of practice. He figures to start if he's able to play on Sunday. But WR Jakobi Meyers and TE Hunter Henry will likely be the focal points of New England's passing game.

The Patriots have surprisingly released QB Cam Newton, according to multiple reports. We wouldn't have been shocked to see the team name Mac Jones its Week 1 starter, but we certainly did not foresee New England unloading Newton completely. Jones graded out among the top passers across the league in preseason, according to Pro Football Focus. His ascension should be good news for the fantasy outlooks for basically everyone in the New England offense. It signals a more traditional scheme as opposed to last year's run-heavy approach. It returns lead status near the goal line to Damien Harris and the RBs. And it should mean more -- and more accurate -- targets for all pass-catchers. We're not overly interested in Jones as a fantasy football prospect, but Jakobi Meyers, Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Nelson Agholor and James White all gain some late-round appeal. RB Damien Harris also gets a bump. Check out the updated projections for the Patriots.

Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire says it would "surprise" him if WR Jakobi Meyers doesn't lead the Patriots in receptions and receiving yards this year. "Meyers has been the best pass-catcher at training camp and in preseason," McKenna writes. "It's not even close." We'll see exactly what that means for weekly target counts in an offense that figures to remain run-heavy as long as QB Cam Newton is behind center. But we'd also bet on New England transitioning to rookie Mac Jones at some point this year. Either way, Meyers is a low-risk PPR bet well outside the top 50 at WR.

Patriots WR Jakobi Meyers has been on the field for 93% of Cam Newton's snaps through 2 games (27 of 29). His 67 receiving yards rank 2nd on the team in preseason, trailing only reserve WR candidate Kristian Wilkerson (who has just 8 more yards on 5 more receptions). Meyers' top highlight has been a 28-yard catch-and-run TD against the Eagles in Week 2. Nelson Agholor sat out the preseason opener but returned for Thursday night's game. He played just 1 fewer snap than Meyers (15-14) but drew nary a target compared with 3 for Meyers. The 2nd-year wideout looks like a high-upside late-round pick for your fantasy football draft.

Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald this week led his list of potential "breakout" Patriots for 2021 with WR Jakobi Meyers. Callahan points to the "only" potential hurdles for Meyers being injury or "dominant summers from Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne," whom New England paid up for in free agency. "But those free-agent additions undoubtedly saw what everyone else did at OTAs and minicamp this spring: Meyers was the best receiver on the field," Callahan writes. We've certainly read other similar offseason buzz for Meyers, who claimed 28% of Patriots targets from Week 7 on last season. At WR68 in current FFPC best-ball drafting and a mid-13th round price on Underdog, Meyers at least looks worth some shots in your drafts. We'll see how things go for him and the rest of the Pats offense through training camp and preseason. Mac Jones taking over for Cam Newton at QB would also likely be good for Meyers' target volume.

NBC Sports' Tom Curran believes Jakobi Meyers will be the "most reliable and productive Patriots wideout in 2021." New England added Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne to the WR room this offseason, but Curran believes Meyers' understanding of the offense, route-running ability and reliable hands will give him the edge. It's a situation to track in training camp and preseason action, but Meyers is a nice target right now at his late ADP.