The Jets recently acquired former Raiders offensive lineman Jordan Meredith via trade. Today, we break Meredith down in detail.
The 28-year old Meredith is listed at 6’2” and 300 pounds and was undrafted out of Western Kentucky in 2021. He has started 20 games in his NFL career, all of them with the Las Vegas Raiders. He played on special teams with the Jets in the first two games of this season, but saw extensive action on offense in the fourth quarter of the Lions game due to an injury.
Background
Meredith was a two-star high school recruit, who headed to Western Kentucky in 2016 and redshirted his first season before serving as a backup in 2017. From 2018 through 2020, he started all 37 games earning an all-Conference USA honorable mention in 2019 and second-team recognition in 2020.
His NFL career began as an undrafted free agent with the Rams, for whom he did not make the roster or practice squad in 2021.
Meredith spent most of the 2022 season on the Raiders’ practice squad, although he was also briefly on the Browns’ practice squad as well. He ended up making his NFL debut with Las Vegas, albeit only seeing action on special teams.
Over the past three seasons, his role increased. He played in every game and made his first NFL start in 2023, then began the season as a reserve but ultimately started eight games in 2024. At the start of the 2025 season, he was named as the starting center and he started the first nine games there before moving back to guard for two games and then landing on injured reserve.
The Jets acquired Meredith at the end of preseason, in exchange for a future year pick swap.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Meredith brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Meredith lacks ideal size and has poor length, which is perhaps why the Raiders were keen to try him at the center position, even moving their previous starting center out to guard to accommodate this.
His workout numbers were really good, with a 5.11 in the 40-yard dash, 25 bench press reps and good agility and explosiveness numbers.
Usage
In college, Meredith only played right guard other than one snap which saw him listed at left tackle. At the NFL level he had some preseason experience at center before the Raiders moved him permanently ahead of the 2025 season. He has otherwise seen plenty of action at both guard spots, and indeed moved back to guard for a couple of games in 2025 before landing on injured reserve.
Pass Blocking
Meredith’s individual pass protection numbers have been solid throughout most of his college and pro careers. He has a low pressure rate and doesn’t give up many sacks.
In 2018 and 2020, he only gave up one sack. However, 2019 may have been his best season for pass protection even though he alllowed three sacks. He only gave up four other pressures all year and his pass protection grade according to Pro Football Focus led the nation.
His numbers were solid with the Raiders too, as he only gave up two sacks in his first 18 starts. He did give up three sacks in his final two starts of last season, but that was right before he went on injured reserve, so he may have been limited at the time. Also, those were the two games after he moved from center back to guard, which may have been a factor. The Raiders gave up 10 sacks in one of those games, as the Browns created constant pressure with stunts.
Meredith has good feet and is capable of mirroring to stay in front of his man and a good sense of how to direct his man to prevent leverage advantages.
He can anchor against a bull rush but if he loses leverage, he may lack the physical tools to recover.
Run Blocking
Meredith doesn’t necessarily bring power and drive as a run blocker, but he’s athletic enough to make blocks on the move and is good at finding a target in space and angling his man off.
In addition, he is also a good pulling option with the athleticism to make reach blocks on the move.
As noted, he’s not consistently powerful at the point of attack. However, he does work well on combo blocks.
Short Yardage
The Raiders’ record at the goal line with Meredith at center was not good last year. In fact, they only had three rushing touchdowns of less than 50 yards all season, from three, three and four yards. However, he did a decent job on this play.
They fared slightly better in that category in 2024 when he was at guard, rushing for three one-yard touchdowns, including a quarterback sneak, in his eight starts.
Screen Blocking
Meredith clearly has the athleticism to get out in front of a screen pass and has impressed with his ability to block in space.
Footwork/Technique
Meredith moves his feet well to stay in front of rushers and has a decent punch and anchor, although he perhaps over-compensates for his lack of size by over-extending himself at times in the drive phase.
His arms were measured at just 31 inches which would be in the bottom 10 for offensive line scouting combine measurements over the past 27 years. This doesn’t tend to affect him once he’s locked onto a block because can extend his arms and lock his elbows to keep his man at bay. He also resets his hands constantly in pass protection. However, he can be slow to get those hands up at times.
This also affected him when he was at the center position, because by the time he had snapped the ball and got his hands up, his man was often too quick for him.
Penalties
Meredith showed a good improvement in terms of his on-field discipline during his college career, reducing his offensive penalty count from eight, to six and then four over the course of his three years as a starter.
Penalties haven’t been a major issue during his NFL career either, as he has only been called for seven. Only one of these was a holding call and none were personal fouls.
Special Teams
Meredith’s only special teams role at the NFL level has been as a blocker on the placekicking unit. This was also the case in college, apart from four plays where he was on the punt protection unit.
He had one special teams penalty in college.
Instincts/Intelligence
Meredith has displayed versatility at the NFL level and is considered to have good awareness and football IQ. He is also regarded as a good communicator.
However, at times last year, the Raiders line was in chaos, as they really struggled to pick up stunts. Prior to that, Meredith had shown that he can pick up a basic stunt effectively while at the guard position, so he may not have been the main culprit in that.
Meredith is definitely not immune to mental errors, though. On this short yardage play, he clearly expected everyone else to downblock and the nose tackle was able to capitalize on him moving out of the way.
He has had three pre-snap penalties at the NFL level, all of them on false starts. He was also called three times for being an illegal man downfield on a pass.
Attitude
Meredith apparently has some nastiness to his game and a killer instinct in terms of his finishing and aggressiveness.
By moving around so much, he has displayed adaptability and a team-first attitude, and his resilience to establish himself with the Raiders having been released five times at the NFL level has been impressive.
Injuries
Meredith has had some ankle issues during his career, which led to him being placed on injured reserve last season. He had also been limited by an ankle issue during the 2024 season at times.
Scheme Fit
The Jets have clearly brought Meredith in to be their fourth interior lineman as it seems likely he would be the first man off the bench at all three interior positions. The team’s unofficial website lists him as the number two at all three spots.
Ultimately, though, all three current starters can play center, so Meredith won’t necessarily have to move there if someone does get hurt.
He has been a teammate of current Jets players Geno Smith, Dylan Parham and Tyler Johnson while he with the Raiders. He was also a teammate of Troy Reeder when he was with the Rams.
Conclusions
Meredith’s fate with the Raiders was probably sealed once they brought in Tyler Linderbaum, but the Jets will hope he gives them a viable backup option. He even accepted a paycut following the trade.
In 2024, it looked like Meredith was establishing himself as one of the Raiders’ young building blocks. Based on Pro Football Focus grades, he was a top-10 guard in the NFL that season.
The move to center didn’t go too well, but the Raiders’ offensive line as a whole was a mess last season so it’s difficult to say whether he is incapable of playing well at that position, or just had a difficult time as the anchor of poorly performing unit.
As was the case with Parham, the Jets will be hoping that Meredith is a better player than he showed in 2025 and, if that’s the case, he gives them a solid reserve option for the rest of this season and the fact he has familiarity with Smith and Parham is probably a bonus, even though they were collectively involved in the Raiders’ struggles last season.
Meredith may be about to get an extended look in place of Parham, as we await news on the severity of the injury he suffered in Sunday’s game.
