Alabama's John Metchie III Becoming Inspiration for Canadians at the Highest Level of College Football

For Alabama's breakout wide receiver in 2020, he is playing for more than the Crimson Tide with a whole country watching

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After winning the MVP award at the A-Day Game in the spring of 2019, University of Alabama sophomore wide receiver John Metchie II still found himself fifth on the depth chart behind the likes of Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs II, DeVonta Smith, and Jaylen Waddle. 

But now with Jeudy and Ruggs off the to the NFL and Waddle out with an ankle injury, Metchie has found himself as a key contributor to the Crimson Tide in 2020 and the time spent behind those pass catchers was pivotal in his development.

“It motivated me a lot," Metchie told reporters on Wednesday via Zoom. "Like I said, Alabama is one of those places that you come here if you love competition and, as everyone saw last year, our receiver room was full of competitors, and I think that helped me grow a lot. It also helped me see like, what the potential and what I could possibly achieve so I think being in that room, and just that whole year of me kind of being behind all of those guys really helped.”

Metchie burst onto the scene earlier this season against Texas A&M with five receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns. When Waddle went down against Tennessee, he would put up seven catches for 151 yards in that 48-17 victory. 

On the year, the native of Brampton, Ont., Canada has 24 receptions for 517 yards and three scores. 

"He’s a strong receiver,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said after the game against the Volunteers. “He’s got good quickness. He’s got really strong hands. I think he’s a smart guy. He really plays the game well. He pays attention to detail, runs good routes. He’s fast, and he’s quick out of a break. He’s really played well for us.”

Metchie is one of many Canadians who is making a name for theirselves at many college football programs across the country. Tennessee's Josh Palmer, Clemson's Ajou Ajou, Pittsburgh's Jared Wayne, Virginia's Jana Terrell, and Oklahoma State's Chuba Hubbard are all notable Canadians in the sport right now. 

“I wouldn’t say I feel the eyes of the country watching me, but I definitely feel prideful about being from Canada," Metchie said. "And just being a kid from Canada, given the chance to play here at Alabama, I’m extremely grateful for it, and I definitely don’t take it for granted."

"I just wanna show kids from Canada that they can really do anything they put their minds to, especially if they wanna play football at the highest level.”

Pittsburgh Steelers wide out Chase Claypool, a native of Abbotsfoot, Can., is having a breakout rookie season and Metchie noted he feels honored to be a part of a golden generation of football for his home county.

“Personally, I kind of just keep my head down and kind of keep working because I feel like there’s still a long ways to go as far as personal goals and things like that," Metchie said. "So, for me, I just keep working and hopefully, one day I can look back and see that I made an impact in kids from Canada and the sport, what it means over there."

Crimson Tide offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor Jr. appreciates what the wide receiver room has been able to accomplish this year, especially the big-play ability that Metchie possesses. 

His touchdowns have come on catches of 40, 78, 63 yards out, while averaging 21.5 yards a reception.

"It’s cool to see how deep our receiver room is," Ekiyor said. "All of those guys are capable of doing well. It makes it easy on us, you know those long touchdowns make it a shorter drive, so you always appreciate the receivers doing their thing."

With an open date this weekend, and a matchup with SEC West foe LSU looming, Metchie and the offense is going back to the drawing board on how to operate the rest of the season without Waddle. 

"I think it is big for everyone, I think, as a whole, as a whole unit, we need to kind of go back to the fundamentals and focus on our craft especially after losing Waddle," Metchie said. "A guy like that is pretty much irreplaceable. He's pretty much one of one. 

"So I think it’s big for everyone to kind of get back to the basics and hone their craft.”

He says that defenses haven't changed how they scheme and play the offense without Waddle because the Crimson Tide "has too many weapons" on that side of the ball. 

Now the attention turns to the Tigers to see if they can stop one of Canada's native sons from continuing his breakout campaign.

“They’re just the next team on our schedule right now," Metchie said. “So to us, in the moment, LSU is the most important team. And that's kind of the mindset we have. It’s just one week at a time and focus on that.”