The Houston Texans’ receiving corps will look completely different in 2025, with Nico Collins the only returning starting wide receiver, as Tank Dell is expected to miss a large chunk of the year. The front office acquired Christian Kirk from the Jacksonville Jaguars to fill in for Dell. The Texans also selected Stefon Diggs’ replacement, Jayden Higgins, in the second round and another depth piece and fellow Cyclone, Jaylin Noel, in the third round.
Adding these three players is expected to limit the roles of their two former draft picks. We will focus on their second-round pick from 2022.
The Houston Texans’ second-round pick is the odd man out
John Metchie III has had a challenging but resilient start to his NFL career. Metchie missed the entire rookie season to recover from an ACL tear and a leukemia diagnosis in July 2022. He recovered from leukemia and was cleared to play in his second season, but the last two years have been a challenge because of his limited role on offense.
Metchie wasn’t heavily involved in his second season, only playing 310 (29%) snaps, and was limited to 16 receptions for 158 yards in 16 games. The 2024 campaign wasn’t any better for him, as he didn’t see a large uptake in snaps despite all the injuries, and even missed four games because of a healthy scratch and a shoulder injury later in the year. He finished with 24 receptions for 254 yards and one touchdown, representing 381 (45%) snaps in three starts.
He is named a top trade candidate, according to Bleacher Report
Matt Holder of Bleacher Report listed six wide receivers who could be traded during the offseason and listed John Metchie III as the number two player. Holder explains that he has fallen out of the rotation with all the additions and is the odd man out. He believes Metchie still has talent and could thrive under the right circumstances.
“That’s a lot of mouths to feed and could make the Alabama product expendable over the coming months. Metchie is entering a contract year and likely won’t be brought back with the organization’s investments in the former Cyclones,” Holder said.
“But he was a top 50 draft pick who has plenty of talent to be more production with a bigger opportunity elsewhere. Also, the 24-year-old was reportedly receiving trade interest heading into last season.”
Can he turn things around?
Since John Metchie III is young and has potential, he can thrive under the right circumstances. The only way for Metchie to get better is for his role to increase, as well as his targets. You can’t develop into a talented receiver with limited reps and targets. There are some wide receiver-needy teams who could take a chance on him this year, since it’s a low-risk, high-reward type of situation.
