The Houston Texans have a tough call to make. Does John Metchie III make the team's opening-day roster? That's a tough question to answer because it's not as easy as it should be. Metchie was a second-round pick in 2022, but illness and injuries have slowed his development and kept him off the field for a good portion of his career.
He's been overshadowed by guys like Tank Dell and outpaced by others like Nico Collins. Then you throw in the arrival of Stephon Diggs, plus the fact that guys like Noah Brown and Robert Williams have out-performed him in the regular season or the preseason, and you start to get the picture that maybe Metchie just isn't good enough yet to warrant a spot on this team.
On one hand, he hasn't produced at any point in time from the regular season to the preseason. Even in the 2024 preseason, he's only fifth of all the wide receivers on the team according to Pro Football Focus. He's also not so far ahead of the sixth highest-rated wide receiver (Aiden Hutchinson) and the seventh-rated wide receiver (Quintez Cephus) that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
The potential is certainly there, but he hasn't put up the kind of outings that would make you think he's more than just potential. The term "flashes" has been used to describe him as of late. "Flashes of starting caliber talent..." or "flashes of greatness..." and that's all well and good. Another way to describe "flashes" of greatness is simply to put it as is; he's inconsistent.
Which isn't shocking, considering all he's been through, why wouldn't he be inconsistent still? That said, this team is ready to win now and Metchie doesn't seem to give them their best shot at that. He certainly isn't putting up the same stats that Hutchinson is, or the same type of reliability that Woods is.
Still, that potential is real. The fourth game for the Texans, however, saw Metchie only finish fourth on the team in receiving yards. You'd think that he'd have put on a bigger show considering all that was on the line. There's no guarantee that he will get cut, but considering he's a second-round pick, it's also fair to say he isn't guaranteed a roster spot either.
