Former Alabama star wide receiver traded to reigning Super Bowl champs, joins several other former Crimson Tide standouts

Former Alabama star wide receiver traded to reigning Super Bowl champs, joins several other former Crimson Tide standouts originally appeared on A to Z Sports.The Philadelphia Eagles have invested a lot of resources in former Alabama players.

Going into the weekend, eight former Crimson Tide standouts were playing for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

And as the weekend comes to a close, yet another has been added to that collection.On Sunday, NFL insider Adam Schefter with ESPN tweeted out that the Eagles were acquiring John Metchie from the Houston Texans.

The return? According to DJ Bien-Aime with ESPN, the two teams are swapping Day 3 draft picks with the Eagles also sending receiving tight end Harrison Bryant.View the original article to see embedded media.So Philadelphia now has nine players who are part of Alabama's history, including eight who are listed as being from the university on the official roster.

Here's a list of those players:WR DeVonta Smith (first-round pick)LB Jihaad Campbell (first-round) -- rookieOL Landon Dickerson (second-round)QB Jalen Hurts (second-round) -- OklahomaOL Tyler Steen (third-round)CB Eli Ricks (undrafted free agent)WR John Metchie (second-round) -- via TexansTE Cameron Latu (third-round) -- via 49ersDL Byron Young (third-round) -- via RaidersOf those nine players, six are offensive guys with the other three being on defense.

We aren't certain how many of these guys will make the 53-man roster, but it's a safe assumption that it'll at least be 6-7 of them.Metchie was originally selected in the second round (No.

44 overall) of the 2022 draft, but through no fault of his own, his NFL career got off to an extremely slow start.

Not only was he coming off of a season-ending knee injury during his final year at Alabama, but he was soon after diagnosed with APL (acute promyelocytic leukemia) that forced him to miss his entire rookie season.Metchie was able to return in 2022, but he's since only played 203 snaps in the past three seasons, including just 33 in 2023.

In total, he's hauled in 40 receptions for 412 yards (a 10.3-yard average) and just one touchdown.The former Peddie School (Hightstown, NJ) standout was dynamic at Alabama though, especially during his final season in 2021.

That year, he led the Crimson Tide in targets (128) and catches (96) while being forced to miss the two College Football Playoff games due to the knee injury.

He turned those 96 catches into 1,142 yards and eight scores, which only trailed Jameson Williams, who produced 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns on 79 catches.For his college career, Metchie totaled 155 catches for 2,081 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The receiving yardage is good for seventh-most in school history while the touchdowns put him at No.

13.Metchie won't have an easy path to playing time in Philadelphia.

The Eagles return their top three receivers from a year ago in AJ Brown, Smith and Jahan Dotson, who they acquired prior to the NFL trade deadline in 2024.

There's also former Florida State wide receiver Johnny Wilson, but Metchie is likely to slot into the No.

4 spot ahead of him.It is pretty cool that Metchie is being reunited with his former running mate at Alabama in Smith.

During that 2020 national championship season, they became the Crimson Tide's top two receivers after Jaylen Waddle went down with an injury against Tennessee.

That season, Smith finished with 117 catches for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns en route to winning a Heisman trophy while Metchie had 55 catches for 916 yards and six scores.This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Aug 17, 2025, where it first appeared..

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