I tagged Jacobi Meyers as one of my two biggest WR bargains this week (Christian Kirk was the other) for two main reasons: he's clearly New England's #1 receiver, and he was facing an anemic Jets defense. Sometimes it doesn't get more complicated than that.
Yet his consensus Week 9 ranking was a WR-42. Think about that: a WR-42, behind guys like Darnell Mooney (who isn't bad, but still . . .). It's not that I thought Meyers would break out. It's that more than half the fantasy universe believed he was a WR5 for no apparent reason. We get into this sometimes with players whose season-long stats tell one story, but their situation tells another. Meyers entered the season as a non-entity, but took advantage of injuries and poor play to become a trusted pass-catcher. Playing the probabilities, Meyers was going to comfortably outperform expectations.
If you're starting a team's #1 receiver, you're getting a relatively high ceiling regardless of the team. So when you see one ranked as low as Meyers--particularly against a lowly D--the risk is worth it.
It's hard to evaluate New England's other contributors--the few there were--because of who they played. Cam Newton played well enough to beat an historically bad team. Damien Harris and Rex Burkhead could do pretty much what they wanted. Damiere Byrd has been adequate in all three games where he's had nine targets. But then again, who isn't? For fantasy purposes, this is a situational team whose players usually will be streamable at best.
And as a side note, Harris's injury might make it easier for the Pats to feed Sony Michel. Michel's impending return might had muddied things, but now it seems more likely is Harris isn't 100% next week.
For the Jets, wow. Joe Flacco sure deserves another start, but they ran only four offensive plays in the fourth quarter, when he went 1-for-3 with an interception. Candidly, their receivers aren't bad. The offseason additions of Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims were supposed to breathe life in a bottom-feeder passing game, and last night we witnessed what it could be when they and Jamison Crowder are healthy and clicking with their quarterback. But it's possible this loss will be the Jets' offensive highlight of the season.