Mac Jones surely will be pleased with the New England Patriots’ latest pre-draft visit.
Alabama wide receiver John Metchie, a teammate of Jones’ in 2020, has a top-30 visit with the Patriots scheduled for Tuesday, according to a report Monday from NFL reporter Jordan Schultz.
Metchie’s schedule of visits this week also includes trips to Buffalo and Jacksonville, per Schultz’s report.
The Patriots already have connected with Metchie at least once during the pre-draft process, meeting with him at the NFL Scouting Combine in March.
The 21-year-old played under longtime Bill Belichick friend Nick Saban in an Alabama program that’s produced four Patriots draft picks over the last three years, and he developed a strong connection with Jones during the quarterback’s final season in Tuscaloosa, catching 55 passes for 916 yards and six touchdowns. Metchie elevated his game after Jones left for the NFL, posting an impressive 96-1,142-8 receiving line in 2021 before tearing his ACL in the SEC Championship.
“Mac and I are really close,” Metchie told reporters at the combine. “He was my quarterback that year, so Mac and I got along really well. We spent a lot of time together my freshman year on the (second) team and stuff like that, so we have a lot of chemistry back there.”
Teams like the Cincinnati Bengals (Joe Burrow/Ja’Marr Chase) and Miami Dolphins (Tua Tagovailoa/Jaylen Waddle) recently have found positive passing-game results by reuniting their young quarterbacks with college teammates. Metchie won’t go nearly as high as Chase (fifth overall) or Waddle (sixth) in this year’s draft but is projected as a second-round pick. He said he’d love to team back up with Jones, who made the Pro Bowl as an alternate in his first Patriots season.
“It’s definitely something I’ve heard, and especially seeing the trend of teams liking to unite quarterbacks and receivers or just former teammates together,” Metchie told reporters. “I think Mac-10 and I would be special together, for sure.”
The Patriots likely will use their meeting with Metchie to thoroughly evaluate his knee injury, which prevented him from testing at the combine or his pro day. The wideout said at the combine that he expects to be medically cleared by June.
New England addressed its wide receiver need by trading for veteran DeVante Parker last week, but with Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor entering contract years, they should be looking to replenish that position group with young talent.
