John Metchie III set for NFL debut after battling cancer

Former Alabama receiver John Metchie III appears set to make his NFL debut this weekend after a battle with cancer. The Houston Texans receiver is not listed on the Texans injury report for this weekend’s game against the Colts.

Metchie missed the season opener against the Ravens last weekend with a hamstring injury.

He missed all of his rookie season in 2022 after a battle with cancer. He was sidelined with a hamstring injury this summer, before being cleared to return in late July.

“John’s ready to go,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said over the summer. “He had a little bit of set back there in the spring, but he’s clear. He’s ready to practice.”

Metchie missed the entire 2022 season after receiving a diagnosis of Leukemia after the draft. Though he was initially cleared for play on that front this offseason, a hamstring injury set him back leading up to training camp.

Metchie’s cancer diagnosis, which came last July, revealed he had APL (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia), which is a form of Leukemia with the highest rates of long-term survival. After finding out about his condition, the second-rounder spent a month and a half in in-patient treatment. He followed that up with several months of outpatient chemotherapy.

During his last season at Alabama in 2021, Metchie had 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns, before Houston selected him No. 44 overall. They drafted him despite a torn ACL very late in the 2021 season.

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans pleased with what John Metchie brings to the table

DeMeco Ryans wasn’t the head coach when the Texans drafted John Metchie, but he loves what Metchie brings to the table, both as a person and a player.

“When you talk about a guy like John Metchie, just hearing his story and meeting him in person, it marries up,” Ryans said over the summer. “Outstanding young man off the field. Great energy. Always around. Every time I seen him in the building, huge smile on his face.

“No matter what adversity he’s faced, he’s attacking it with a smile, with the right attitude. It just solidifies the type of person that he is and the type of people and the type of players that we want to add to our team, it’s guys with that type of attitude.”

It has been a long journey for Metchie to get to this point, but he appears set to cross a major hurdle on Sunday.