Should I start Xavier Hutchinson or John Metchie in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Xavier Hutchinson, and the board ranks him 162nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on John Metchie, and the board ranks him 163rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Xavier Hutchinson is 1.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for John Metchie is 0.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 2 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Xavier Hutchinson's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Xavier Hutchinson has been on the field for 54 percent of HOU snaps, drawn 17 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 46 third down targets, had 1 of its 10 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 35 two minute targets.

His 34 targets have averaged 11.9 air yards.

In Week 4 against DAL he caught 3 of 5 targets for 46 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against TEN he caught 4 of 5 targets for 65 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against JAX he caught 2 of 3 targets for 10 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, John Metchie has been on the field for 35 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 0 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 26 two minute targets.

His 13 targets have averaged 8.4 air yards.

In Week 3 against CLE he caught 2 of 5 targets for 19 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against DET he caught 3 of 5 targets for 37 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against PHI he caught 2 of 3 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Xavier Hutchinson played 17 games and scored 98.0 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing WR64.

He caught 35 of 57 targets for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets.

That came to 3.4 targets a game, a 61 percent catch rate and 12.2 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 John Metchie played 16 games and scored 71.9 PPR points, 4.5 a game, finishing WR87.

He caught 33 of 48 targets for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets.

That came to 3.0 targets a game, a 69 percent catch rate and 8.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 43 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Xavier Hutchinson was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 Xavier Hutchinson scored 5.8 PPR points a game and John Metchie 4.5, 1.3 a game between them.

Xavier Hutchinson finished WR64 that year and John Metchie WR87.

Xavier Hutchinson had 9 more targets than John Metchie, 57 to 48.

Xavier Hutchinson had 154 more receiving yards than John Metchie, 428 to 274.

This season Xavier Hutchinson holds the bigger snap share, 54 percent against 35 percent.

This season Xavier Hutchinson holds the bigger target share, 17 percent against 9 percent.

Byes and availability

Xavier Hutchinson is off in Week 8 and John Metchie in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.