Who Should I Start? John Metchie III or Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Thursday, May 1, 12:17 AM

The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan M. Alexander projects Houston Texans wide receiver John Metchie III to be left off the 53-man roster entering the start of the 2025 season this fall after the team added receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in last week's draft. Houston also added Christian Kirk, Justin Watson and Braxton Berrios in free agency this offseason, creating a lot of competition for the 24-year-old, who has battled injuries and a cancer scare to produce just 40 catches for 412 yards and one touchdown since being drafted in the second round (44th overall) in 2022 out of Alabama. Alexander expects Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson, Berrios and Watson to be battling for the final two receiver spots this summer behind Higgins, Kirk and Nico Collins. Metchie is entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2025 and could be a trade candidate if it's clear he's not going to make the roster.

Saturday, August 24, 9:36 PM

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette (ankle) left the team's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills early on Saturday after landing awkwardly completing a catch in the second quarter. The 24-year-old hauled in 2-of-3 targets for 11 yards while contributing 27 yards on two punt returns and a field-flipping 46 yards on his lone kick return. Smith-Marsette was productive before he picked up the injury and is expected to be the team's returner this upcoming season. Barring the severity of his ankle issue, that could still be the case. It's a bit early to tell how impactful the NFL's new kickoff rules will be come the start of the regular season. However, fantasy managers may want to keep the Iowa product on their radar as a sneaky option, depending on how your league values return yards. His Yahoo! ADP is far down enough that he'd be best suited as a prospective waiver-wire add.