Perfect WR Target for Eagles Emerges After Stefon Diggs Trade

The Houston Texans made a massive offensive upgrade last week, acquiring star wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills. With Houston acquiring Diggs, it makes them one of the contenders in the AFC.

However, the Texans also now have a logjam at wide receiver as their top three wide receivers heading into this coming season are Diggs, Nico Collins, and Tank Dell. Then when you factor in Joe Mixon at running back and Dalton Schultz at tight end, there aren’t a lot of targets for wide receivers such as Noah Brown and John Metchie III.

Brown had a better 2023 season than Metchie, posting 33 receptions (55 targets) for 567 yards and two touchdowns. The 28-year-old receiver could be a viable trade target for a contender like the Philadelphia Eagles, who don’t have a bonafide No. 3 wideout.

That said, Philadelphia might not want to take a chance on Brown and instead could go with the younger receiving threat in Metchie. The former Alabama wideout made his NFL debut in 2023 after missing the entire 2022 season with leukemia.

The 23-year-old receiver didn’t put up huge numbers last season with the Texans, but it was still great to see him back on the field. Metchie produced 16 receptions (30 targets) for 158 yards. 

If the Eagles sent a future Day 3 draft pick to the Texans for Metchie, it could pay off in the long term as he’s on his rookie contract and has a higher upside than DeVante Parker and Parris Campbell, who are both one-year deals.

Also, not to mention, Metchie played with DeVonta Smith at Alabama during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Metchie didn’t make a lot of noise as a freshman with the Crimson Tide but blew up in his sophomore year (55 receptions for 916 yards and six touchdowns) and became the team’s leading receiver as a junior (96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns).

The 5-foot-11 wide receiver was a playmaker at Alabama and I believe that ability is still there for Metchie, he just needs the opportunity and targets to do so. 

Some might not believe that opportunity is in Philly as the Eagles have A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Saquon Barkley, who will all play roles in the passing game.

However, Olamide Zaccheaus received 41 percent of offensive snaps, while Julio Jones and Quez Watkins played 26.5 and 20.1 percent. Those snap counts tell me that there is still plenty of slack left to be picked up by another wide receiver.

Metchie would be a low-risk, high-reward acquisition as the Eagles would take a chance on a wide receiver, who can line up across the formation, win off the line of scrimmage, and create big passing plays.

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