Now that the NFL draft is over, a lot of teams are going to trade players they no longer need, or perhaps don’t want to stay any more. The Tennessee Titans drafted Marcus Mariota, so what happens now with Zach Mettenberger?
In his heart, Mettenberger was probably hoping that he’d be the guaranteed starting quarterback next season. Despite being a sixth round pick and not really impressing last season in the opportunities he did have to start, it did seem for a short while that the Titans don’t want a quarterback in the first round and will be happy to give Mettenberger a chance right off the bat.
But the Titans masked their enthusiasm for Mariota well and ended up not trading the number two overall pick. The Eagles and Browns might still be hoping that the Titans will be willing to listen to offers, but as of now, the Oregon star and Heisman trophy winner of last season is going to play his football for the Titans, although he does have to win the job first.
It doesn’t say much of Mariota if a competition against Mettenberger is something he might be afraid of or might actually stand in his way of getting the starting job. However, when it comes to getting value out of picks, teams that are left needing a quarterback following the draft might be willing to overpay in order to land Mettenberger, who does seem to have potential as a decent backup at the moment. That’s not much, but that’s still a role that teams need in this league, and at the moment, he seems like he’d fit in it quite well.
Mettenberger himself? Right now, unlike others (Zac Stacy from the Rams) who aren’t happy with seeing someone drafted on their position, Mettenberger is not saying anything. It’s hard for him to expect the Titans to fully stand behind his starting role, even if he was hoping for it to happen. It’s important to be realistic and right now, at best, he’ll be given a chance to compete for the job against Mariota, nothing more.