The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects that could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Alabama has turned into WRU. Over the last two years, the Crismon Tide have had four wide receivers drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs have all been first-round selections.
Alabama will have two more wide receivers get their names called in the 2022 NFL Draft. Despite tearing his ACL in the National Championship Game, Jameson Williams will likely be a first-round pick.
John Metchie III, who suffered a torn ACL in the SEC Championship Game, is likely to hear his name called on day two of the upcoming draft.
The Alabama wide receiver checks in at No. 78 in the Unpacking Future Packers countdown.
Metchie came to Alabama as a four-star recruit. He arrived on campus to a loaded wide receiver room and saw limited playing time.
“Metchie arrived at Alabama after a quartet of 1st round picks in Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs, and Jaylen Waddle were all already established as the starters,” Brent Taylor, the editor for Roll Bama Roll, said. “Rather than going quietly into the night, Metchie showed up to the spring game before his freshman year and roasted all the second-team defensive backs, winning the team’s MVP award for the game. He just looked bigger, stronger, and faster than high school seniors usually show up looking like.”
With Jeudy and Ruggs off to the NFL, Metchie enjoyed a breakout season of sorts in 2020. The former four-star recruit caught 55 passes for 916 yards and six touchdowns.
This past season Metchie recorded 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. He finished the season on an absolute terror for the Crimson Tide.
During the last eight games of the season, Metchie hauled in 69 receptions for 867 yards and six touchdowns. In that eight-game span, Metchie caught at least six passes in every game and had four 100-yard receiving games.
“Entering his junior year, Metchie was now expected to be Alabama’s #1 receiver, but an ankle/foot injury in preseason led to a fairly slow start for him,” Taylor said. “He was mostly used on slants to move the chains and even then had a few drops that he shouldn’t have.
As the season wore on, though, he noticeably added a lot more spring back into his step, and he showed a tremendous development in his ability to create separation in tight spaces with elite route-running as well as becoming much more dangerous at breaking tackles and getting downfield with the ball in his hands.”
A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one. That quote is the best way to describe Metchie’s game.
There are no clear deficiencies in Metchie’s game. Metchie checks all the boxes that scouts look for in wide receivers. He’s a polished route runner. He has strong hands. He can create after the catch and he’s a physical blocker out on the perimeter.
He’s just so smooth in everything he does. It even led to Alabama head coach Nick Saban saying that Metchie has everything that you look for in a wide receiver.
“John Metchie has been a very, very positive contributor to our team. He’s tough. He plays hurt. He plays physical. He gets open. He makes catches. He makes plays. He never complains…This guy is the epitome of what you look for in a wide receiver. And he certainly hasn’t disappointed us in terms of how he’s developed here, how he’s worked here, and what he’s developed into.”
Metchie ran the full route tree during his time in Alabama. While he doesn’t possess game-breaking speed like Waddle or Ruggs, he has elite separation quickness. He does a great job of altering speeds. He shows good burst in and out of his breaks without having to throttle down. Every step has a purpose for Metchie. The Alabama wide receiver does a good job of using subtle head movements to sell double moves.
“He’s got a suddenness in the short game where he can set up a defensive back going one way and leave them in the dust cutting back across their face,” Taylor said. “He did a lot of damage this year on quick slants, flags, and curl routes where he left his defender five yards behind him and gave Bryce Young an easy throw.”
Metchie has some juice after the catch. He’s capable of making the first man miss and turning a seven-yard slant into a 25-yard gain. According to Pro Football Focus, Metchie averaged 6.5 yards after the catch and forced 20 missed tackles.
“He’s got the speed to get yards and can break a few tackles with a combination of his suddenness, core strength, and balance,” Taylor said. “He’s not some human joystick YAC guy or anything, but throw him a screen pass, and he’ll likely make one man miss and get the first down.”
It’s no secret that Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur wants his wide receivers to be physical run blockers ou ton the perimeter. Metchie gets after it and has helped spring big plays on wide receiver, bubble screens.
“The dude is as physical of a guy as you’ll see for a 195-pound receiver,” Taylor said. “He was more often the recipient of the ball in his final year, but go back to his sophomore year and you’ll see a whole lot of tape of him springing big plays for DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle.”
Fit with the Packers
The Packers wide receiver room is likely to look a lot different when the 2022 season opens.
Will they opt to make Davante Adams the highest-paid wide receiver in the league? Will they bring back Allen Lazard? Will deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling get a new deal this offseason?
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future outlook of the wide receiver position at 1265 Lombardi Avenue. The only certainty is that Brian Gutekunst will likely use multiple picks on the wide receiver position in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Metchie may miss a portion of his rookie season with a torn ACL. It’s possible that he even misses his entire rookie season.
Will that stop a team like the Green Bay Packers from taking him on day two of the draft? It shouldn’t. But, for a team that may be looking to make a run at the Super Bowl, they may opt to select a player that could help them in the immediate future.
If Gutekunst and company are okay with selecting a player that may miss his entire rookie season, they’d be getting a player that could develop into a dynamic number two wide receive opposite Adams.
If Adams isn’t re-signed, Metchie would give the Packers a player that has all the tools to develop into the new No. 1 wide receiver at 1265 Lombardi Avenue.
“If you want a guy that can be a solid receiver, who does everything well Metchie is your guy,” Taylor said. “He’d be a slam dunk second or third-round pick.”
