3 sure-handed NFL Draft receivers the Arizona Cardinals should target
By Cody Potanko
Jakobi Meyers, North Carolina State
This 6-2, 203-pound receiver hailing from N.C. State is a perfect candidate in the possession receiver role. His Pro Football Focus rating stands at an impressive 83.1 in large part due to his 3.2% drop rate which ranks him 21st in this class. As a slot receiver, he ranks first in the 2019 class in slot receptions with 85 and third in slot yards with 984 in the 2018 season.
Meyers’ 2018 stats are impressive as he posted 92 catches out of 121 targets (76.0% catch rate) that went for 1,048 yards, 341 of being after the catch, per PFF. He’s not typically known as a ‘go up and get it’ type of receiver but when asked to make the contested grab he does it well. He knows how to highpoint the ball and shows a great catch radius doing so.
As a former quarterback, he shows a developing route-running ability, with the knowledge of winning leverage with fakes and a good short intermittent burst of speed. Despite a former quarterback, one of his best traits is his natural receiving hands and ball concentration.
Meyers possesses that competitive drive that will him to be unafraid to take a shot coming across the middle; an ideal trait for a slot receiver. He’s also a solid run-blocker. And when put in a big role at N.C State he flourished.
Meyers is a middle-floor, high-ceiling guy that could fall to the mid-rounds because of his lacking explosiveness and athleticism (4.63 second 40-yard-dash), unrefined press-beating skills, and lack of wide receiver tape.