The 2025 National Football League playoffs begin on Saturday. On the 14 NFL rosters of teams that made the playoffs are four Canadian starters. They are Los Angeles Rams left tackle Alaric Jackson of Windsor, Ontario, Houston Texans wide receiver John Metchie III of Brampton, Ontario, Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Josh Palmer of Brampton, and Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste of Montreal, Quebec. It should be noted that Metchie III and Palmer are questionable to play this weekend. Palmer is battling a foot injury, while Metchie III does have a shoulder ailment. Metchie III did practice on Wednesday, however.
If healthy, all four Canadians will be in action this weekend. The Chargers in fact are playing the Texans in one of three AFC Wildcard matches. The Commanders are facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Rams are facing the Minnesota Vikings.
This past season, Metchie III had 24 catches for 254 receiving yards and one touchdown. Palmer had 39 catches for 584 receiving yards and one touchdown. The major score came on November 3. It was a 28 yard touchdown catch from Justin Herbert to open the scoring in a 27-10 Chargers win over the Cleveland Browns. Jackson played 14 games this past season for the Rams, while St-Juste had 71 combined tackles (56 solo tackles and 15 assisted tackles), seven pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The forced fumble came in a 21-18 Commanders win over the New York Giants on September 15, and the fumble recovery came in a 36-33 Commanders win over the Philadelphia Eagles on December 22.
