Is Brock Bowers or Jakobi Meyers the No. 2 Pass-Catcher for the Raiders in Fantasy Football?

The Las Vegas Raiders' pass-catching group will look a bit more dynamic heading into the 2024 NFL season. While Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers led the way for the Raiders and combined for over 50% of the available targets last season, the team drafted tight end Brock Bowers with the No. 13 overall pick in this past April's NFL Draft.

That leads us to 2024, where the veteran Meyers and the rookie Bowers will be in an unofficial battle to determine who will earn more of the quarterback targets from either Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell. Meyers has three straight seasons of solid fantasy production under his belt with New England and Las Vegas, while Bowers comes into Vegas with three seasons of excellent productivity from the most competitive conference in college football, the SEC.

So, is Meyers or Bowers the second target for the Raiders in fantasy football RB1 in 2024? Let's dive in and find out.

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Who is the Raiders No. 2 WR in 2024?

Jakobi Meyers' career path has certainly been unique. He was allergic to scoring touchdowns in his first two and a half seasons as a Patriot, putting up the most receptions (131) and receiving yards (1,511) by a wide receiver to start a career without scoring a touchdown. Contrast that to his last two NFL seasons, where Meyers has totaled a combined 14 touchdowns while continuing his brand as a solid, yet unspectacular fantasy receiver. Meyers has not eclipsed 870 receiving yards in any of his five seasons but has compiled receptions as a top 30 receiver in the last three seasons in PPR formats.

The hype for Bowers is certainly real heading into his rookie season in Las Vegas. His athletic and production profiles are off the charts, leading the Georgia Bulldogs in most receiving categories as an 18-year-old freshman on a National Championship-winning team that rostered over a half-dozen current and future NFL players, including Adonai Mitchell, Ladd McConkey, Jermaine Burton, James Cook, and Zamir White. Impressive.

No tight end has won two consecutive John Mackey Awards for being the best collegiate tight end in all of college football like Bowers has. Among tight end prospects since 2018, Bowers has a 94th-percentile-or-better mark (per PFF) in a litany of stats, including:

• PFF Receiving Grade (94.1)
• Yards per route run (2.64)
• Yards per target (11.1)
• In-line yards per route run (3.83)
• 1st down/TD rate (14.6%)
• YAC per reception (8.5)

The million-dollar question that looms is this. Who will be the Raiders' No. 2 pass-catcher? If we're making predictions for Week 1, it's probably Meyers. Meyers should help pace the Raiders at the start of 2024 with his target-earning while Bowers gets up to speed, which shouldn't take long. However, from a season-long perspective, Bowers is the player who will be most impactful in fantasy and put up gaudy numbers as an elite talent at the tight end position.

Rookie tight ends usually have a bit of a learning curve as they make their transition to the NFL. Raiders TE Brock Bowers may be ahead of that curve. @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/kroIO3c4QK

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) July 31, 2024

Who Should You Draft in Fantasy Football for 2024?

Bowers is ahead of Meyers in terms of average draft position (ADP), but not by much, as both are separated by just 18 picks on NFC. When asking about drafting one or the other, you have to look at your team context and what makes sense for your roster.

If you prefer to focus on upside during your draft and wait a little bit for a tight end, drafting Bowers allows you to select wide receivers and running backs while people are taking the elite tight ends off the board. However, if you pass up on some wide receivers or draft some rookies for late-season upside and need some guaranteed production from the position immediately, Meyers is a worthy pick heading into the double-digit rounds of fantasy drafts. Both are good picks within multiple situations, but my personal preference is to draft Bowers more for what he can provide at a limited position after all the elite tight ends are drafted.

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