John Metchie 2022 NFL Draft Profile

Draft experts had Metchie tabbed as a top-five draft pick prior to the 2021 college football season. Since then, he’s moved to a projected second round due to a late-season ACL injury. Metchie became Alabama’s number two wideout after Jaylen Waddle’s ankle injury in 2020. That season, Metchie finished with 916 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He entered the 2021 season as the number one receiver. Also, he became the third all-time receptions leader for Alabama with 96 and third in the SEC for the season with 1,142 receiving yards in 2021.

Metchie was part of only the second duo of players to ever have over 1,000 receiving yards for Alabama in 2021. Jameson Williams was the other half of that 1,000-yard duo with Metchie last season. Jerry Jeudy and DeVonta Smith were the other duo to have over 1,000 yards in a season. Metchie was just 84 yards shy of being part of another duo of 1,000-yard receivers in 2020, the year Smith won the Heisman.

Even though Metchie was born in Tawain and spent his early childhood in Ghana, his time spent living in Canada as a youth garnered him the Jon Cornish Trophy in 2020. That trophy is awarded to the top Canadian in NCAA football. Metchie was the first receiver to receive the award. Additionally, he was voted Second-Team All-American for the 2021 season.

When Metchie was a teenager, he moved to Hagerstown, Maryland, and began playing football at St. James School. As a freshman in high school, he was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and a heart murmur. Despite the heart condition, he had 42 touchdowns, 2,500 receiving yards, and 1,300 rushing yards in four years. Metchie spent a post graduate year at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey. He was a four-star recruit out of high school. Metchie chose to play at Alabama over Georgia and Maryland.

Strengths

Great ability to break tackles;

Able to shift and change directions quickly with good footwork;

Able to block well;

Good hands;

Good balance at the sidelines;

Able to produce YAC.

Weaknesses

Gets outmuscled on contested catches;

Coming off ACL tear;

Tendency to drop passes;

Small frame;

Diagnosed with an enlarged heart and heart murmur as a youth.

NFL Comparison: Emmanuel Sanders

Projection: Early second round

Bottom Line on John Metchie

Metchie comes in a draft class that is wide receiver heavy. His draft stock dropped after sustaining an ACL tear in December. Otherwise, he would be a first-round projection if not for the talented number of receivers in the draft class. The good news is that the ACL tear was a clean tear. So, the recovery time is not as long as expected. Metchie does have speed, but he isn’t as fast as Waddle or Williams. However, whatever team drafts him will be able to depend on Metchie to get the job done when called upon.

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