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
YearRdPlayerTeamAttCompYdsTDsINTQBR
20121Robert Griffin IIIWashington3932583200205102.4
20123Russell WilsonSeahawks39325231182610100.0
20041Ben RoethlisbergerSteelers2951962621171198.1
20081Matt RyanFalcons4342653440161187.7
20141Teddy BridgewaterVikings4022592919141285.2
20111Cam NewtonPanthers5173104051211784.5
20133Mike GlennonBuccaneers416247260819983.9
19982Charlie BatchLions303173217811683.5
20146Zach MettenbergerTitans17910714128783.4
20123Nick FolesEagles25516116996582.1
20112Andy DaltonBengals5163003398201380.4
20081Joe FlaccoRavens4282572971141280.3
20131EJ ManuelBills306180197211977.7
20142Derek CarrRaiders5993483270211276.6
20121Andrew LuckColts6273394374231876.5
20101Sam BradfordRams5903543512181576.5
20121Ryan TannehillDolphins4842823294121376.1
20103Colt McCoyBrowns22213515766974.5
20061Matt LeinartCardinals3772142547111274.0
19991Tim CouchBrowns3992232447151373.2
19972Jake PlummerCardinals2961572203151573.1
20031Byron LeftwichJaguars4182392819141673.0
20121Brandon WeedenBrowns5172973385141772.6
20021Patrick RamseyWashington22711715399871.8
19981Peyton ManningColts5753263739262871.2
19962Tony BanksRams3681922544151571.0
20073Trent EdwardsBills26915116307870.4
20111Christian PonderVikings2911581853131370.1
20141Blake BortlesJaguars4752802908111769.5
20061Vince YoungTitans3571842199121366.7
19991Cade McNownBears235127146581066.7
20132Geno SmithJets4432473046122166.5
20066Bruce GradkowskiBuccaneers32817716619965.9
20111Blaine GabbertJaguars4132102214121165.4
20091Mark SanchezJets3641962444122063.0
20021David CarrTexans444233259291562.8
20031Kyle BollerRavens22411612607962.4
19951Kerry CollinsPanthers4322142717141962.0
20091Matthew StaffordLions3772012267132061.0
19991Donovan McNabbEagles2161069488760.1
20021Joey HarringtonLions4292152294121659.9
20091Josh FreemanBuccaneers2901581855101859.8
20054Kyle OrtonBears368190186991359.7
19941Heath ShulerWashington2651201658101259.6
20102Jimmy ClausenPanthers29915715583958.4
20041Eli ManningChargers1979510436955.4
20051Alex Smith49ers1658487511140.8
19981Ryan LeafChargers245111128921539.0

--Andy Richardson