The Lions signed the guy that a lot of teams are going to regret not drafting

Not every player is going to get picked in the NFL Draft. It's just the nature of the business. There are times when some really good players fall through the cracks and find themselves going undrafted. We usually call them diamonds in the rough. The Lions may have found one of those guys in wide […]

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images

Not every player is going to get picked in the NFL Draft. It's just the nature of the business. There are times when some really good players fall through the cracks and find themselves going undrafted. We usually call them diamonds in the rough. The Lions may have found one of those guys in wide receiver Jackson Meeks. 

We talked about Meeks a bit on Saturday. He's the nephew of Za'Darius Smith, a player that Lions fans are really hoping winds up back in Detroit. We touched on the stats, too: 78 receptions for 1,021 yards and seven touchdowns, in case you forgot.

But after staying up too late watching film and following it up with more this morning, the only thing I could come away with is that he might be one of those diamonds. 

So what do I see? I see a guy who is not going to fly down the field. Don't look at him like that. He ran a 4.64 at his pro day. He's not a burner, and he's not going to create crazy separation. What he is going to do is make the catch anyway.

Meeks goes up and gets that ball no matter who's tight on him. He had 21 contested catches for Syracuse in 2024. That is the second-most-contested catches in the nation last year. The Lions needed someone who could do that, and they got that in third-round pick Isaac TeSlaa, but they have it a little better. TeSlaa can separate; he doesn't need to do it all the time. 

The other thing you can see is blocking. This guy gets out there and does it in the pass game, and, more importantly, he does it in the run game too, and he does it very well there. You can see that this is something the Lions definitely had in mind when they signed him as a priority free agent. 

For a player comp that everyone reading this article can see, it's Kenny Golladay. Lions Golladay, not Giants Golladay. The big thing with the former Lion is that he could not create separation to save his life, but he still just kept catching the ball anyway. Golladay was also a pretty good run blocker in Detroit. It's kind of a shame he didn't really have anyone to block for. 

So why did he not get drafted? There are a few reasons really. Teams are looking for that separator, and there's nothing wrong with that. There may be guys who can't catch the ball as well as Meeks, but if they can get open, there's a little more value there.

Meeks also has just one year of playing time in college. He wasn't able to crack the lineup at Georgia. He was there for three years and was low on the depth chart. He transferred to Syracuse and became their top receiver immediately.

What's the ceiling for Meeks in Detroit? For starters, I think he can make the 53-man roster over Dominic Lovett, whom the Lions took in the seventh round. Meeks can contribute very well to special teams. That's what he primarily did at Georgia, and he did it well. 

As a receiver, he could make it to that WR4 spot in Detroit, where he comes on the field a little here and there, makes some contested catches. You could see him as a red zone threat because there's little space to work with, and you don't have to expect him to gain a lot of separation. Just make the catch and fight for the end zone. He could, of course, also be great there for run blocking. 

Related Articles