ATLANTA — Alabama receiver John Metchie III is expected to miss the College Football Playoff after suffering what Tide officials believe to be a torn ACL in his left knee in Saturday’s 41-24 victory against Georgia in the SEC championship game, sources told ESPN.
Metchie missed the second half after injuring his leg on quarterback Bryce Young‘s 14-yard scramble with 56 seconds left in the first half. He was injured on a noncontact play while running a pass route and clutched his left knee when he fell to the turf. He walked off the field under his own power.
“John Metchie is probably going to be out now, and we have a couple other guys that may be injured,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. “It creates a lot of opportunity for a lot of other players. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get them to step up.”
Metchie had eight catches for 97 yards with one touchdown in the first half. He led the team with 90 catches and was second in receiving yards (1,045) to go along with seven scores coming into Saturday’s game.
ESPN’s Todd McShay rates Metchie as the No. 7 wide receiver available for the 2022 NFL draft.
With Metchie out, Jameson Williams finished with seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia’s top-ranked defense. Slade Bolden had five catches for 54 yards and Jahleel Billingsley had two for 27 yards.