The Houston Texans took a calculated risk in Round 2 of the 2022 NFL draft Friday night.
Houston moved up to No. 44 overall in the second round to grab another receiver for Davis Mills in Alabama’s John Metchie. Although the former Crimson Tide wideout had immense talent in college, his amateur career ended rather inauspiciously with an ACL tear in the SEC Championship Game in December.
As Metchie has rehabilitated through the injury, NFL teams have been gathering intel on how the receiver has progressed, and no one with better insight into the injury is Alabama coach Nick Saban.
According to Texans general manager Nick Caserio, Saban helped give an in-depth look at how Metchie was handling the injury.
“I would say I have a lot of respect in Nick,” Caserio said. “Whenever you ask him about a player, he is very honest. He has a good perspective because he can give you a comparative view of — he has coached a lot of really good players. I think you better be prepared when you talk to him. You better know what the Hell you are talking about. He doesn’t want to waste a lot of time.”
Caserio didn’t waste any time with Saban evidently as the organization gathered enough information to make an informed decision on the selection of a player coming off an ACL tear.
“What that individual says about that particular player, like, we should listen to that information,” said Caserio. “If we don’t, we’re kind of being irresponsible. It’s all part of the evaluation. It’s all part of the equation. Ultimately, we can take all the information we want from whomever. We have to internalize it, and then ultimately we have to make a decision, and we are either comfortable with the decision or we’re not.”
Houston was comfortable enough to take Metchie, who joins a receiving corps that includes Brandin Cooks and former 2021 third-rounder Nico Collins.
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