The future of Zach Mettenberger will be greatly influenced by what happens in the next couple of weeks. The Titans could draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick, or they could swing a deal for Philip Rivers.
But they've had a lot of nice things to say about last year's sixth-rounder in recent weeks, making comparisons to Tom Brady and so forth. And while that might be pushing it, there's no denying that Mettenberger had a credible rookie season.
Over the last 20 years, there have been 48 drafted rookies with as many pass attempts as Mettenberger had last season. The Titans youngster managed a quarterback rating of 83.4, better than all but eight of those players. Most of those eight are going on or have gone on to have excellent careers. All of them were selected in the first three rounds of the draft (five in the first round) -- so, way earlier than Mettenberger.
Not to say it's a given he'll go on to be a successful NFL starter, but it's not crazy for the Titans to think about starting him in 2015.
The table below shows quarterbacks drafted since 1994 with at least 175 attempts as rookies, sorted by quarterback rating.
QUARTERBACKS WITH 175-PLUS ATTEMPTS AS ROOKIES, 1994-2014 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Rd | Player | Team | Att | Comp | Yds | TDs | INT | QBR |
2012 | 1 | Robert Griffin III | Washington | 393 | 258 | 3200 | 20 | 5 | 102.4 |
2012 | 3 | Russell Wilson | Seahawks | 393 | 252 | 3118 | 26 | 10 | 100.0 |
2004 | 1 | Ben Roethlisberger | Steelers | 295 | 196 | 2621 | 17 | 11 | 98.1 |
2008 | 1 | Matt Ryan | Falcons | 434 | 265 | 3440 | 16 | 11 | 87.7 |
2014 | 1 | Teddy Bridgewater | Vikings | 402 | 259 | 2919 | 14 | 12 | 85.2 |
2011 | 1 | Cam Newton | Panthers | 517 | 310 | 4051 | 21 | 17 | 84.5 |
2013 | 3 | Mike Glennon | Buccaneers | 416 | 247 | 2608 | 19 | 9 | 83.9 |
1998 | 2 | Charlie Batch | Lions | 303 | 173 | 2178 | 11 | 6 | 83.5 |
2014 | 6 | Zach Mettenberger | Titans | 179 | 107 | 1412 | 8 | 7 | 83.4 |
2012 | 3 | Nick Foles | Eagles | 255 | 161 | 1699 | 6 | 5 | 82.1 |
2011 | 2 | Andy Dalton | Bengals | 516 | 300 | 3398 | 20 | 13 | 80.4 |
2008 | 1 | Joe Flacco | Ravens | 428 | 257 | 2971 | 14 | 12 | 80.3 |
2013 | 1 | EJ Manuel | Bills | 306 | 180 | 1972 | 11 | 9 | 77.7 |
2014 | 2 | Derek Carr | Raiders | 599 | 348 | 3270 | 21 | 12 | 76.6 |
2012 | 1 | Andrew Luck | Colts | 627 | 339 | 4374 | 23 | 18 | 76.5 |
2010 | 1 | Sam Bradford | Rams | 590 | 354 | 3512 | 18 | 15 | 76.5 |
2012 | 1 | Ryan Tannehill | Dolphins | 484 | 282 | 3294 | 12 | 13 | 76.1 |
2010 | 3 | Colt McCoy | Browns | 222 | 135 | 1576 | 6 | 9 | 74.5 |
2006 | 1 | Matt Leinart | Cardinals | 377 | 214 | 2547 | 11 | 12 | 74.0 |
1999 | 1 | Tim Couch | Browns | 399 | 223 | 2447 | 15 | 13 | 73.2 |
1997 | 2 | Jake Plummer | Cardinals | 296 | 157 | 2203 | 15 | 15 | 73.1 |
2003 | 1 | Byron Leftwich | Jaguars | 418 | 239 | 2819 | 14 | 16 | 73.0 |
2012 | 1 | Brandon Weeden | Browns | 517 | 297 | 3385 | 14 | 17 | 72.6 |
2002 | 1 | Patrick Ramsey | Washington | 227 | 117 | 1539 | 9 | 8 | 71.8 |
1998 | 1 | Peyton Manning | Colts | 575 | 326 | 3739 | 26 | 28 | 71.2 |
1996 | 2 | Tony Banks | Rams | 368 | 192 | 2544 | 15 | 15 | 71.0 |
2007 | 3 | Trent Edwards | Bills | 269 | 151 | 1630 | 7 | 8 | 70.4 |
2011 | 1 | Christian Ponder | Vikings | 291 | 158 | 1853 | 13 | 13 | 70.1 |
2014 | 1 | Blake Bortles | Jaguars | 475 | 280 | 2908 | 11 | 17 | 69.5 |
2006 | 1 | Vince Young | Titans | 357 | 184 | 2199 | 12 | 13 | 66.7 |
1999 | 1 | Cade McNown | Bears | 235 | 127 | 1465 | 8 | 10 | 66.7 |
2013 | 2 | Geno Smith | Jets | 443 | 247 | 3046 | 12 | 21 | 66.5 |
2006 | 6 | Bruce Gradkowski | Buccaneers | 328 | 177 | 1661 | 9 | 9 | 65.9 |
2011 | 1 | Blaine Gabbert | Jaguars | 413 | 210 | 2214 | 12 | 11 | 65.4 |
2009 | 1 | Mark Sanchez | Jets | 364 | 196 | 2444 | 12 | 20 | 63.0 |
2002 | 1 | David Carr | Texans | 444 | 233 | 2592 | 9 | 15 | 62.8 |
2003 | 1 | Kyle Boller | Ravens | 224 | 116 | 1260 | 7 | 9 | 62.4 |
1995 | 1 | Kerry Collins | Panthers | 432 | 214 | 2717 | 14 | 19 | 62.0 |
2009 | 1 | Matthew Stafford | Lions | 377 | 201 | 2267 | 13 | 20 | 61.0 |
1999 | 1 | Donovan McNabb | Eagles | 216 | 106 | 948 | 8 | 7 | 60.1 |
2002 | 1 | Joey Harrington | Lions | 429 | 215 | 2294 | 12 | 16 | 59.9 |
2009 | 1 | Josh Freeman | Buccaneers | 290 | 158 | 1855 | 10 | 18 | 59.8 |
2005 | 4 | Kyle Orton | Bears | 368 | 190 | 1869 | 9 | 13 | 59.7 |
1994 | 1 | Heath Shuler | Washington | 265 | 120 | 1658 | 10 | 12 | 59.6 |
2010 | 2 | Jimmy Clausen | Panthers | 299 | 157 | 1558 | 3 | 9 | 58.4 |
2004 | 1 | Eli Manning | Chargers | 197 | 95 | 1043 | 6 | 9 | 55.4 |
2005 | 1 | Alex Smith | 49ers | 165 | 84 | 875 | 1 | 11 | 40.8 |
1998 | 1 | Ryan Leaf | Chargers | 245 | 111 | 1289 | 2 | 15 | 39.0 |
--Andy Richardson