Ht – 5’11” Wt – 187lb Class – JR Age – 21
Career Statistics
2021 Stats – 96 Rec, 1142 Yds, 8 TD (13 Games Played)
Career Stats – 155 Rec, 2081 Yds, 14 TD (30 Games Played)
Attribute Breakdown
Hands & Ball Skills – Metchie tracks the ball with ease, and when throws are within his catch radius he hardly drops them. His hands are sticky and reliable, and he adjusts and leaps to catch passes very well.
Contested Catch – While he isn’t a 50/50 pass catcher, he is more than capable of catching in traffic. He plays with phenomenal toughness for his size, and he is an ideal receiver for the middle of the field.
Size & Speed – Metchie plays much smaller than his height, but his toughness is unmatched on the football field. He isn’t a burner, but he is close to it. He can pull away from defenders and he has great long speed.
Release – His ideal position is the slot, so he didn’t face much press coverage, but when he did, he uses precise footwork to always get free. His football IQ comes in handy here, as he generally understands the release technique much better than the defender he is matched up with.
Routes & Separation – Exceptionally crafty. He isn’t twitched up or insanely quick, but he is so precise and smart with his route breaks that he always creates separation.
YAC – Not very shifty, but he has elite vision and uses that to run and maneuver to the optimal lane for yardage gains.
Football IQ – Off the charts. Metchie is a true student of the game, and few players are more natural at football than he is. This is also evident from his immediate impact on the stacked Alabama offense already from his sophomore season.
Versatility – Although he played out wide at times for the Crimson Tide, he is best suited for the slot.
Overall
John Metchie III is an under-the-radar prospect, who projects to be a very reliable Wide Receiver in the NFL for a long time. He reminds me a lot of Cole Beasley. Both play smaller than their height, and both are unstoppable forces out of the slot. Despite their only slightly above-average athleticism, they use great football IQ to consistently create yards of separation. While they won’t be down-the-field mainstays, they can be target machines in the right offense. Hunter Renfrow is a great example as well, they are all in the same mold.
What Metchie has that is additionally enticing, is his confidence and history in the Alabama offense. He was never the WR1 on that team, always being overshadowed by the big storyline, whether it was Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, or Jameson Williams, Metchie never stole the show, but he seemed to flourish in that role. This shows great maturity and will give teams the comfort to experiment with him, and not feel forced to try him as the primary target. Even so, he possesses the confidence of a true No. 1 receiver who will flourish at the next level.
Unfortunately for Metchie, like his teammate Jameson Williams, he tore his ACL in the final few games of the 2021 season. Unlike Williams, however, Metchie’s skill set isn’t nearly as rare, so his “injury tax” will be much larger and affect his stock much more negatively.
I love Metchie’s abilities, and I’d love to see how quickly he can recover and become a Quarterback’s safety blanket.
See John Metchie III’s overall ranking among other players on my Big Board.
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