Texans’ drafting of Alabama WR John Metchie considered a ‘reach’
The Houston Texans entered the 2022 NFL draft with 13 draft picks, but most people knew that general manager Nick Caserio wasn’t going to use all of them.
Part of Caserio’s draft strategy is to use picks as part of packages to take targeted players, which is what the Texans did when they moved up to No. 44 overall in Round 2 to take former Alabama receiver John Metchie.
Although Metchie is coming off an ACL injury, the Texans nevertheless took the talented receiver. However, it didn’t sit well with CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan, who listed the move as one of the reaches in the draft.
Houston traded up to No. 44 overall in the second round to draft Metchie. While the Alabama product is a solid player, he wasn’t expected to come off the board this early on Day 2 and is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the SEC Championship game. Not only was taking Metchie at this spot a bit too high, but there were a number of other pass-catchers on the board with higher ceilings like Georgia’s George Pickens and Skyy Moore out of Western Michigan.
Sullivan also relayed colleague Chris Trapasso’s writeup that Metchie is a “vertical specialist” and that he is “not overly fast deep” with a “smaller frame” and “minimal YAC.”
Adding Metchie in with a receiving corps that includes Brandin Cooks, Chris Conley, and Nico Collins should help the rookie do what he does best and not have to run a variety of routes by his lonesome in his first season.
