Who Should I Start? John Metchie III or Zachariah Branch

Saturday, June 20, 11:25 AM

After a quiet start to the year with the Philadelphia Eagles, wide receiver John Metchie III was a 2025 trade deadline acquisition of the New York Jets, where a much thinner depth chart allowed him to catch 28 passes for 253 yards and two scores over his final eight games. While not earth-shattering numbers, his 17-game pace of 60-538-4 would represent career-highs across the board, and he proved himself a fantasy viable player with two finishes as the WR17 or better. His one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers was one of the more under-the-radar signings of the 2026 free agency period, but in another receiver room that thins out quickly behind Tetatiroa McMillan and Jalen Coker, there is a role to be carved out in an offense that has seen more than 63% of its targets go to wide receivers in the past two years under Dave Canales. The Panthers spent a 2026 third-round pick on Chris Brazzell II, and 2024 first-rounder Xavier Legette is still on the team, so there's no guarantee of Metchie's spot in the pecking order, but at RotoBaller's WR129, he is a dart throw whose value has sunk so low he can almost be seen as a free throw-in as part of a larger trade.