The Tennessee Titans keep rotating the quarterback position. After Jake Locker went down with an injury Charlie Whitehurst got the opportunity, but without doing anything special, the veteran will pave way for Zach Mettenberger out of LSU, a rookie taken in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft.

Mettenberger has played in the garbage time of one game, completing 2-of-5 passes for 17 yards – nothing to really go upon. His college career with the Tigers wasn’t exactly stellar, but he’s been one of those quarterbacks that some feel is better suited to succeed in a pro system than in a college one. He makes the most of Locker being either healthy or very good in the game he did appear in, while Whitehurst isn’t really anything more than an uncomfortable band aid.

What this move really means is the Titans possibly moving on from Locker. Ken Whisenhunt, the head coach, said that there is no change to the quarterback hierarchy. However, Locker disappointed in his appearances so far this season, throwing four touchdown passes but also four interceptions while completing just 58% of his passes, as his passer rating dropped to 75.9 and he is averaging a career low 6.82 yards per pass.

Whitehurst isn’t going to be a starting quarterback anywhere anytime soon unless there’s an emergency, so continuing to go with him when this season isn’t going to the playoffs once again for the Titans doesn’t make much sense. Maybe Locker is still the big hope for the Titans (although most signs show he really isn’t), but giving Mettenberger and not a 32-year old veteran the chance to maybe develop into something bigger is the smarter move.

In four games for the Titans (3 starts, 1-2), Whitehurst has completed 60.2% of his passes while throwing for 764 yards, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt. He has five touchdown passes and  two interceptions, posting a 93.2 passer rating. The 2-5 Titans are ranked 28th in the NFL with 209.9 passing yards per game, and will play the blitz-happy Houston Texans in their next game.

Image: Source