When one door closes, another one opens. And on Wednesday, the door for John Metchie III in Houston may have gotten a whole lot tighter.
This morning, the Texans gave their keys to wide receiver Stefon Diggs. The defending AFC South champions acquired the 30-year-old wideout from the Buffalo Bills, as well as two late-round draft picks, in exchange for a 2025 second-round selection.
Diggs joins an already crowded arsenal of pass-catching targets for quarterback C.J. Stroud, who also has fellow receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell, tight end Dalton Schultz and even running back Joe Mixon at his disposal. So where does that leave our guy Metchie?
The 2022 second-round pick hasn’t had the most seamless transition from the University of Alabama to the pros. After sitting out what would have been his rookie campaign because of acute promyelocytic leukemia, Metchie couldn’t find his stride in 2023.
Over 16 games, he recorded 30 targets — just the seventh-most on the Texans this past season. His debut year resulted in 16 catches for 158 yards on the fifth-most productive passing offense in football.
And now a four-time Pro Bowler will need his share of targets in the Houston offense.
But as we stated in the very first sentence of this post, this move could lead to an opening for Metchie. (We’re lookin’ at you, Dan Morgan.)
The Carolina Panthers have dedicated a good chunk of their offseason to helping second-year quarterback Bryce Young. Not only did they sign away a combined $153 million for two new starting guards in Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, but they also nabbed a Pro Bowl receiver of their own in Diontae Johnson.
Their work on that front, however, is far from done — and Metchie fits right into their mission.
Head coach Dave Canales is on the lookout for weapons who can find their own space, something Young sorely lacked throughout his rough rookie season. We saw that intent with the trade for one of the game’s best separators in Johnson and could see even more of it early on in the 2024 NFL draft.
And hey, maybe the draft brings something other than an actual selection. With Diggs now in tow for Houston, perhaps the misfit Metchie could be had for a Day 3 pick.
During his time in Tuscaloosa, Metchie won on polish. He wasn’t the biggest or fastest guy but proved he can find openings through his instincts and his route-running.
And much of that success came with Young as his quarterback. Metchie notched his collegiate bests across the board during Young’s Heisman-winning season in 2021, when he reeled in 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns.
So perhaps opportunity will knock for Metchie — and maybe it’s the Panthers who should be on the other side of that door.
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