The Jets recently acquired former Raiders offensive lineman Jordan Meredith via trade. Today, we break down Meredith in detail.
The 28-year-old Meredith is listed at 6’2″ and 300 pounds and went 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 at quarterback on offense with the Lions.
Meredith was a two-star high school recruit, who committed to Western Kentucky in 2016 and redshirted his first season before serving as a backup in 2017. From 2018 to 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, where 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. He ended up making his NFL debut in Las Vegas, though only seeing action on special teams.
Over the past three seasons, his role has 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 the starting center and started the first nine games there before returning to guard for two games and then going on injured reserve.
The Jets acquired Meredith at the end of the preseason, in exchange for a one-year future pick swap.
Let’s move on to some more in-depth analysis of what Meredith brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Meredith lacks ideal size and has poor length, which is probably why the Raiders were eager to try him at the center position, even moving their former starting center to guard to accommodate it.
His workout numbers are really good, with a 5.11 in the 40-yard dash, 25 bench press reps and great agility and explosiveness numbers.
In college, Meredith played only right guard except for one snap that saw him listed at left tackle. At the NFL level he had some preseason experience at center before the Raiders moved him permanently before the 2025 season. He has seen plenty of action at both guard spots, and actually returned to guard for a few games in 2025 before going on injured reserve.
Meredith’s individual pass protection numbers have been solid throughout most of his college and pro careers. He has low pressure and doesn’t give up many sacks.
In 2018 and 2020, he only gave up one sack. However, 2019 may be his best season in pass protection even though he allowed three sacks. He gave up just 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, as he gave up just two sacks in his first 18 starts. He did give up three sacks in his final two starts last season, but that was right before he went on injured reserve, so he may be limited at that time. Also, that was 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 the ability to mirror to stay in front of his man and a good sense of how to direct his man to avoid leverage advantages.
He can anchor against a bull rush but if he loses steam, he may lack the physical tools to recover.
Meredith doesn’t necessarily bring strength and drive as a run blocker, but he’s athletic enough to make blocks in transition and is good at finding the target in space and angling his man.
In addition, he is also a good pull option with the athleticism to make reach blocks in transition.
As mentioned, he is not always strong at the point of attack. However, he works well with combo blocks.
The Raiders didn’t have a good record on the goal line with Meredith under center 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 in 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.
Meredith clearly has the athleticism to get in front of a screen pass and impresses with his ability to block in space.
Meredith moves well on his feet to stay in front of rushers and has a decent punch and anchor, although he probably overcompensates for his lack of size by overextending himself at times in the drive phase.
His arms measured at just 31 inches which is in the bottom 10 for offensive line scouting combined measurements over the past 27 years. This will not affect him when he is locked in a block as he can extend his arms and lock his elbows to avoid his man. He also resets his hands constantly in pass protection. However, he can be slow to raise his hands at times.
It also affected him when he was in the middle position, because by the time he snapped the ball and got his hands up, his man was often too quick for him.
Meredith showed great improvement in terms of his 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 big issue during his NFL career, as he’s only been called for seven. Only one of them had a holding call and no personal foul.
Meredith’s only special teams role at the NFL level was as a blocker on the placekicking unit. The same thing happened in college, aside from the four plays where he was on the punt protection unit.
He had a special penalty on college teams.
Meredith has shown versatility at the NFL level and is considered to have great awareness and football IQ. He is also considered a good communicator.
However, at times last year, the Raiders’ line fumbled, as they really struggled to pull off stunts. Before that, Meredith showed that she could pull off a major stunt effectively while in the guard position, so she might not be the main culprit there.
Meredith is certainly not immune to mental mistakes, though. On this short yardage play, he clearly expected others to downblock and the nose tackle was able to capitalize on his getting out of the way.
He 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 person on a pass.
Meredith seems to have a grit to her game and a killer instinct in terms of her finishing and aggressiveness.
With so much on the move, he showed flexibility and a team-first attitude, and his tenacity to establish himself with the Raiders who was released five times at the NFL level was impressive.
Meredith has had several ankle issues during his career, which led to him being placed on injured reserve last season. An ankle issue also limited him in the 2024 season at times.
The Jets obviously brought Meredith in to be their fourth interior lineman because he will likely be the first guy off the bench at all three interior positions. The team’s unofficial website lists him as number two in all three spots.
Ultimately, though, all three current starters can play center, so Meredith won’t have to move there if someone gets hurt.
He became teammates with current Jets players Geno Smith, Dylan Parham and Tyler Johnson while with the Raiders. He was also with Troy Reeder when he was with the Rams.
Meredith’s fate with the Raiders was likely sealed once they brought in Tyler Linderbaum, but the Jets hope he gives them a viable backup option. He even accepted a paycut following the trade.
In 2024, Meredith looks to have established himself as one of the Raiders’ 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 so well, but the Raiders’ offense as a whole was in disarray last season so it’s hard to tell if he can’t play well at that position, or just struggled as the anchor of an underperforming unit.
As with Parham, the Jets are hoping Meredith is a better player than he showed in 2025 and, if that’s the case, he gives them a solid backup option for the rest of this season and the fact that he’s familiar with Smith and Parham is likely a bonus, even if they were involved in the Raiders’ struggles together last season.
Meredith may soon get the look instead of Parham, as we wait for word on the severity of the injury he suffered in Sunday’s game.