It's hard to think of an NFL player who has had a tougher start to their career than Houston Texans receiver John Metchie III.
A 2022 second-round pick out of Alabama, Metchie was already fighting an uphill battle after tearing his ACL in the 2021 SEC Championship Game. As if that wasn't hard enough, Metchie had to miss his entire rookie season after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Even with the odds stacked against him, Metchie battled his way back and made the Texans' 53-man roster this season. While the stats haven't quite been there, as he has just 13 receptions for 144 yards, the 23-year-old is looking better and better each week, and his coaches have taken notice.
"I'd say a significant amount of the gap, he's closed," offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said. "He's definitely looking more like the John Metchie that was at Alabama that we saw on film when he was coming out in the draft...
"You can see - if you throw on tape from Week 1 to right now, I would say they probably don't even look like the same player. And I think that's going to continue until he really gets back to what I feel like he thinks he is from leaving Alabama."
In case anyone forgot, Metchie was a standout receiver in college. Over his final two seasons at Alabama, the Taiwan native caught 151 passes for 2,058 yards and 14 touchdowns. He helped the Crimson Tide bulldoze their way to the 2020 national championship, and if he and fellow receiver Jameson Williams (now with the Detroit Lions) hadn't gotten injured, there's a good chance they could've gone back-to-back.
Metchie may not have had much of a chance to shine yet, but considering the Texans are banged up at receiver with Tank Dell out for the season and Nico Collins and Noah Brown questionable for Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans, perhaps his chance could come sooner rather than later.
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