Canadians in the NFL: Top performers in 2023

Football is getting bigger in Canada, and a handful of Canadians made headlines for their strong performances this NFL season.

Let’s take a look back at the top Canadian performers from this past NFL season.

Chuba Hubbard

Running back, Carolina Panthers
2023 Season stats: 238 carries, 902 rushing yards, 39 receptions, 233 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns

Chuba Hubbard shared the Carolina backfield with Miles Sanders the entire season. The Panthers finished the year 2-15, and it was hard to find a silver lining from the disaster of a season. However, Hubbard had a solid third campaign in the NFL and tied a career-high for touchdowns in a season with five.

There will be a lot of changes for the Panthers in the offseason as they try to improve, but Hubbard will likely not be one of the tweaks. He is still under contract for one more season and will likely play a large role in Carolina’s offense next year as well.

John Metchie III

Wide Receiver, Houston Texans
2023 Season stats: 16 catches, 158 receiving yards

This was John Metchie’s rookie season because he missed the entire 2022 season. Metchie tore his ACL in the SEC Championship of his senior season in college but was still drafted by the Texans. Metchie quickly dealt with another problem as he was diagnosed with cancer shortly after being drafted. He sat out the entire 2022 season to recover.

Metchie finally took the field this season after recovering from an ACL tear, a hamstring injury, and cancer. He played in 16 games and was a wild card in the Texans offense. Unfortunately for Metchie, he was in a very crowded offense with Tank Dell, Nico Collins, Robert Woods, and Noah Brown ahead of him. However, that didn’t stop Metchie from recording 16 catches and 158 receiving yards in his rookie year.

Josh Palmer

Wide Receiver, Los Angeles Chargers
2023 Season stats: 38 catches, 581 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns

The Tennessee alum has cemented himself as a reliable option for Justin Herbert in the Chargers offense. Unfortunately, Josh Palmer dealt with a nagging knee injury this season which limited him to just 11 games, as he was on the injured reserve in the middle of the season. Palmer made up for his absence with an excellent last few games of the season as he hauled in 204 receiving yards in the final three games of the 2023 campaign.

Palmer finished the season with two games of having at least 100 receiving yards. The best game came against the Chiefs, as he recorded five catches for 133 yards. In the end, Palmer had two touchdowns and was a key option for Easton Stick after Herbert got injured.

Jevon Holland

Safety, Miami Dolphins
2023 Season stats: 74 total tackles, 52 solo tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 10 pass deflections, 1 interception

One of the rising stars of the Dolphins is safety Jevon Holland. Mike McDaniel believes that Holland is one of the best safeties in the league, and paired with Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard, the Dolphins have an elite secondary.

Holland appeared in 12 games and made an impact in each game. He totaled over 50 solo tackles and also had a fumble recovery and an interception. Unfortunately, Holland did deal with several knee issues and he missed over a month of the season recovering. Heading into the playoffs, Holland is close to 100% healthy and ready to continue making an impact in the secondary.