Goodbye, Josh Metellus

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HIGH SCHOOL
Metellus was a high school teammate of Devin Bush, Jr. and Devin Gil. He committed to the Wolverines in June of 2015. I initially gave Metellus a TTB Rating of 71 (LINK) and stuck with the at rating throughout the class. That was in the ol’ Blogspot days. He ended up as a 3-star, the #48 safety, and #739 overall.

Hit the jump for more.

COLLEGE
Metellus was a backup to Jabrill Peppers as a freshman in 2016, and his first start came in the bowl game against Florida State, making 6 tackles and a two-point conversion return in that game; he finished that year with 15 tackles and 1 sack. He became a starter at safety in 2017 and was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten with 49 tackles and 5 pass breakups. As a junior in 2018, he made 48 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions (for 104 yards and 1 touchdown), and 6 pass breakups, which resulted in being named Second Team All-Big Ten. His senior year saw him making 74 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, and 5 pass breakups, resulting in Third Team All-Big Ten.

CAREER STATS
187 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 5 interceptions (for 104 yards and 1 TD), 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 21 pass breakups

AWARDS
All-Big Ten (Second Team, 2018; Third Team, 2019; Honorable Mention, 2017)

SUMMARY
I compared Metellus to Thomas Gordon when he committed, and I can’t say I’ve been dissuaded from that comparison. Both were average-sized with decent athleticism and good, not great careers. Metellus outperformed a lot of people’s expectations for him when he seemed like a throw-in with Devin Bush, Jr. I don’t think many expected him to be a three-year starter. He did play a little better than I expected with the 71 grade, but “Solid starter in Big Ten; some NFL Draft potential” sounds like a good range for Metellus. I did have some issues with Metellus’s lack of focus at times. He missed some coverage and tackle opportunities because his concentration was in the wrong place, but overall, he had a good career for the Wolverines.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR…
…when it was late in the first half with Michigan struggling against SMU. He made an interception along the visiting sideline with a few seconds left, and while everyone – including me – was hoping he would run out of bounds and give the offense or field goal unit a chance to run a play, he rumbled, bumbled, and stumbled into the endzone as time expired to give the Wolverines some much-needed momentum.

PROJECTION
Sticking with the Thomas Gordon thing, I don’t see Metellus developing into a long-term NFL player. He got invited to the Combine and performed fairly well. At 5’11” and 209 lbs., he registered a 4.55 forty, a 36.5″ vertical, a 10’4″ broad jump, a 6.94 three-cone drill, a 4.4 shuttle, and 20 reps on the bench press. His 5.96 draft rating on NFL.com puts him at approximately the level of a special teamer/backup. I could see him hanging around the fringes of the NFL for a couple of years before fading away.

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