Raiders HC and star player love one underrated addition in 2023
The Las Vegas Raiders had one of the more underrated offseason signings in the league, in my opinion. It definitely doesn't get talked about enough, from what I have seen. Instead, now everyone is talking about the Jimmy Garoppolo signing, and rightfully so. The Raiders downgraded from Carr to Garoppolo, and the new quarterback is […]
The Las Vegas Raiders had one of the more underrated offseason signings in the league, in my opinion. It definitely doesn't get talked about enough, from what I have seen.
Instead, now everyone is talking about the Jimmy Garoppolo signing, and rightfully so. The Raiders downgraded from Carr to Garoppolo, and the new quarterback is one that struggles to stay on the field.
Oh, and there is a new layer to it all – the Raiders signed him knowing he would need foot surgery. All of that is overshadowing the fact that the Raiders may now have the best wide receiver room in the entire league, especially with the addition of Jakobi Meyers.
Meyers was on the New England Patriots in the past and was basically their number-one guy at times in the McDaniels offense. So, he is coming to a new team basically already knowing what the offensive system is.
On Thursday McDaniels had a lot of positives to say about one of his new toys.
"Yeah, he's an undrafted guy… First of all, it doesn't matter how you get somewhere, it just matters what you do once you're there," McDaniels told the media. "And I think Jakobi had a great attitude from the moment that I was able to work with him. Learned, was like a sponge in the classroom. Took as many reps as he could in the offseason and training camp, and tried to learn from the players that were ahead of him.
"Really dove in and tried to improve every day. And a lot of those guys that make it as undrafted players, and we had some last year that made our football team and impacted significantly through the course of the season, they all have the same mindset. They compete, they don't care about draft status, draft position, etc. They come in and they earn their role on the football team, and that's what Jakobi did. Excited to have him join our group."
Adding Meyers makes the Raiders have a great receiver room. After letting Mack Hollins walk, and trading Darren Waller, they needed to add some more pieces to help set up Jimmy Garoppolo as much as possible. They have done that.
Their room features the best wide receiver in the league in Davante Adams, Meyers, Hunter Renfrow – if he doesn't get traded, Cam Simms, Phillip Dorsett, Tre Tucker, and Deandre Carter, all who can play valuable snaps for this team.
The wide receiver one had some great words on his new running mate in Meyers.
"I told Jakobi I learned more about him and part of it was my ignorance," Adams told the media. "Like I said, I live under a rock a lot of times, so in New England, I didn't see him featured as much as maybe he should have been based off of what I saw when they came here and we practice against them. And so far what I've seen from him now, I mean he's a pro. He's got a lot of tools on the field and the way he thinks about the game, to be a relatively young player is impressive to me. So, I'm excited to work alongside him too."
It's crucial Adams and Meyers have a great relationship in the season. These will be the top two guys in that room, and both are being paid the big bucks to be just that. Meyers will open up Adams game more because he is a guy that also demands attention, and vice versa.
Meyers was an underrated signing because of the things he can do on the field. Then you factor in his relationship with the coaching staff he knows the offense, and his relationship with the quarterback.
It seems like everyone is happy he is there, and they all feel he can bring a different element that they didn't have last year when Renfrow was hurt most of the year and Mack Hollins was the wide receiver two.
