Zach Mettenberger

Zach Mettenberger

refer to caption

Mettenberger with the Titans in 2014
No. 18 Pittsburgh Steelers
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1991-07-16) July 16, 1991
Place of birth: Athens, Georgia
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:

224 lb (102 kg)

Career information
High school: Watkinsville (GA) Oconee County
College: LSU
NFL Draft: 2014 / Round: 6 / Pick: 178
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2015
Passing completions: 208
Passing attempts: 345
Percentage: 60.3
TD–INT: 12–14
Passing yards: 2,347
Passer rating: 75.4
Player stats at NFL.com

Zachary Rich Mettenberger (born July 16, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU.

Early years

Mettenberger attended Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Georgia. As a senior, he threw 2,106 yards passing with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was ranked as the 11th best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class by Rivals.com.[1]

College career

Mettenberger originally attended the University of Georgia but was kicked off the team due to a violation of team rules. On April 30, 2010, Mettenberger pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor sexual battery charges stemming from an incident at a bar near Valdosta, Georgia.[2][3] He transferred to Butler Community College, where he became the starter for the 2010 season.[4] In his lone season at Butler, he threw for 2,678 yards passing yards with 32 touchdowns and four interceptions. He led Butler to an 11–1 record and the JUCO National Championship game.

Prior to the 2011 season, Mettenberger transferred to Louisiana State University.[5] In his first season at LSU, he completed eight of eleven pass attempts for 92 yards and a touchdown in limited action. In 2012, he took over as the starting quarterback.[6][7] He led the team to a 10–3 record, completing 58.8% of his passes for 2,609 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.[8] With the arrival of Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator in 2013, Mettenberger led LSU to a 9–3 regular season record, completing 64.9% of his passes for 3,082 yards, 22 TD's and 8 interceptions with a yards per pass attempt of 10.41 YPA and a QB Rating of 171.4.[9] He is the only LSU quarterback to throw for 2,500 or more yards in back-to-back seasons and was a two-time team captain. Mettenberger tore his ACL in LSU's final regular season game.[10] He underwent surgery and 13 weeks later, he fully participated in LSU's Pro Day. He threw nearly 125 passes while wearing a helmet and shoulder pads and completed over 90% of his passes.[11]

Statistics

Year Team Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2011 LSU 8 11 72.7 92 8.4 1 0 173.0 2 28 14.0 0
2012 LSU 207 352 58.8 2,609 7.4 12 7 128.3 47 -208 -4.4 0
2013 LSU 192 296 64.9 3,082 10.4 22 8 171.4 34 -133 -3.9 0
Career 407 659 61.8 5,783 8.8 35 15 148.4 83 -313 -3.8 0

Source:[12]

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Mettenberger at 2014 training camp

Mettenberger was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the 6th round (pick number 178 overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.[13]

On September 28, 2014, Mettenberger made his professional debut in relief of Charlie Whitehurst in a 41–17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He went 2 of 5 for 17 yards with 1 interception.[14]

On October 22, 2014, the Titans decided that Mettenberger would start over Jake Locker and Whitehurst against the Houston Texans.[15] Mettenberger and the Titans lost 30–16 to the Texans. Mettenberger was 27 of 41 for 299 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.[16]

Mettenberger started against Pittsburgh on his Monday Night Football debut on November 17, 2014, going 15/24 for 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and hitting former Steeler Nate Washington for an 80-yard touchdown.[17] During a 36–7 blowout loss to the New York Giants, Mettenberger sustained a shoulder injury and missed the last 3 games.[18] He finished the season with 8 touchdown passes, 7 interceptions and 1,412 passing yards. He started six games for the Titans, all losses.[19]

Mettenberger started four games in 2015 due to injuries to starter Marcus Mariota.[20][21] He threw for 935 yards and four touchdowns with seven interceptions while also scoring one rushing touchdown.[20]

He was released by the Titans during the offseason, on May 16, 2016.[22]

San Diego Chargers

On May 17, 2016, Mettenberger was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Chargers.[23] On August 30, 2016, Mettenberger was cut by the Chargers.[24]

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 31, 2016, Mettenberger was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[25]

Statistics

Year Team GP GS Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2014 TEN 7 6 107 179 59.8 1,412 7.9 8 7 83.4 5 4 0.8 0
2015 TEN 7 4 101 166 60.8 935 5.6 4 7 66.7 9 8 0.9 1
Career 14 10 208 345 60.3 2,347 6.8 12 14 75.4 14 12 0.9 1

Source:[26]

References

  1. ↑ Rivals.com
  2. ↑ "Former Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger pleads guilty to sexual battery", USA Today, May 4, 2010.
  3. ↑ Watson, Graham. "Zach Mettenberger hopes people will forget about his past and focus on his future", Yahoo! Sports, August 28, 2012.
  4. ↑ Zach Mettenberger back on track
  5. ↑ Former Georgia QB Zach Mettenberger returns to SEC with LSU
  6. ↑ Zach Mettenberger gets ready for his close-up at LSU
  7. ↑ Zach Mettenberger now No. 1 quarterback for LSU
  8. ↑ "Zach Mettenberger". espn.go.com. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  9. ↑ Zach Mettenberger Stats - LSU - ESPN
  10. ↑ LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger has torn ACL in left knee, will miss bowl game
  11. ↑ Zach Mettenberger shines at LSU Tigers pro day - ESPN
  12. ↑ "Zach Mettenberger". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ Rosenthal, Gregg (May 10, 2014). "Tennessee Titans draft Zach Mettenberger". nfl.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wayne's big day helps Colts rout Titans 41-17". espn.go.com. September 28, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  15. ↑ Kuharsky, Paul (October 23, 2014). "Titans name Zach Mettenberger QB". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  16. ↑ Kuharsky, Paul (October 26, 2014). "Zach Mettenberger provided numbers and hope, but couldn't cure bad team". espn.go.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  17. ↑ Farrar, Doug (November 18, 2014). "Steelers go old-school, beat Titans with run game to move to 7-4". si.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  18. ↑ Gantt, Darin (December 8, 2014). "Zach Mettenberger expected to miss the rest of the season". profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Zach Mettenberger". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  20. 1 2 "Zach Mettenberger". nfl.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Titans' Zach Mettenberger: Week 16 start on tap". cbssports.com/. December 21, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  22. ↑ Wolf, Jason (May 16, 2016). "QB Zach Mettenberger released by Tennessee Titans". usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  23. ↑ Wesseling, Chris (May 17, 2016). "Chargers claim Zach Mettenberger off waivers". NFL.com. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  24. ↑ NFL.com, 2016 NFL roster cuts tracker Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  25. ↑ Bergman, Jeremy. "Steelers claim Mettenberger, put Gradkowski on IR". NFL.com.
  26. ↑ "Zach Mettenberger". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
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