Cleveland Browns NFL Draft Profile: John Metchie III, WR Alabama

Could the Cleveland Browns add a second Alabama wide receiver this offseason? John Metchie III might be a target for the team in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Alabama's John Metchie III should be a Day 2 target for the Cleveland Browns in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Browns have a new-look wide receiver room heading into 2022, but they shouldn't be done giving the group a facelift just yet. A free agency addition should still be made, and then a rookie should be taken on Day 2. John Metchie III has always been the "other" Crimson Tide receiver, playing behind Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith in 2020 and Jameson Williams in 2021, but he's a really nice player in his own right.

Physically, there isn't anything that stands out about Metchie. He's a skinny 5-11 187 pounds and if he hadn't suffered a torn ACL towards the end of last season, likely would have put up an unimpressive performance at the NFL Combine.

But Metchie just gets open and makes plays. Over the past two years, he's caught 151 passes for 2,058 yards and 14 touchdowns. He isn't going to be a guy you're throwing jump balls to or asking to make difficult catches in traffic across the middle, but he moved around the formation at Alabama and got open at all three levels of the field.

Metchie is a quick and controlled route runner who can get too cute at times, but he knows how to create separation. He's also adept at changing his route tempo which helps him dictate the route to the defender and get open at the right time.

He had a drop rate of 7.7% in 2021, but his hands are typically reliable. After the catch, he's a lot more effective than given credit for. Last season, he ranked fourth in screen catches and seventh in screen yards per Pro Football Focus, and was 10th in the country in missed tackles forced with 20.

#Browns 2022 NFL Draft Clip Thread -John Metchie III, WR, Alabama pic.twitter.com/BvWTcMCQ36

— Sam Penix (@Sam_Penix) April 2, 2022

Here is where Metchie stacks up against the rest of the WR class on various draft boards:

Pro Football Focus - 14th

Pro Football Network - 10th

The Draft Network - 11th

Those rankings likely put him in the 50-60 range on Day 2 of the draft, which would be a great spot for the Browns to move back a little from 44 and snag him if they are set on going WR with their first selection.

Metchie lacks elite physical traits, but in college, he more than made up for that with superior route running and feel for the position. If he were to end up in Cleveland, he'd likely be the starting slot as a rookie, with Amari Cooper and Donovan-Peoples Jones playing the boundary. Metchie spent about two-thirds of his time at Alabama on the outside, but has enough experience and success in the slot to where that should not be a difficult transition for him, and he wouldn't be pigeonholed exclusively into the slot either.

He's not gotten a ton of discussion throughout the pre-draft process, but Metchie's game makes a lot of sense for the Browns, especially considering where he'll likely end up being drafted.