 Mettenberger with the Tennessee Titans in 2014 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 7, 8 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1991-07-16)July 16, 1991 (age 33) Athens, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 223 lb (101 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Oconee County(Watkinsville, Georgia) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Georgia (2009) Butler CC (2010) LSU (2011–2013) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2014: 6th round, 178th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Zachary Rich Mettenberger (born July 16, 1991) is an American former professionalfootballquarterback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with theTennessee Titans. He playedcollege football for theLSU Tigers and was selected by the Titans in the sixth round of the2014 NFL draft. After two seasons in Tennessee as a backup, Mettenberger had an offseason stint with theSan Diego Chargers before spending his final NFL year as a backup for thePittsburgh Steelers in 2016. Mettenberger last played with theMemphis Express of theAlliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019.
Mettenberger attendedOconee County High School inWatkinsville, Georgia. As a senior on thefootball team, he threw 2,106 yards passing with 19touchdowns and sixinterceptions. He was ranked as the 11th-best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class byRivals.com.[1]
Mettenberger originally attended theUniversity of Georgia where heredshirted the 2009 season,[2] 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 nearValdosta, Georgia.[3][4]
He transferred toButler Community College, where he became the starter for the 2010 season.[5] In his lone season at Butler, he threw for 2,678 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 toLouisiana State University (LSU).[6] In his first season at LSU, he completed 8-of-11 pass attempts for 92 yards and a touchdown in limited action. In 2012, he took over as the starting quarterback.[7][8] He led the team to a 10–3 record, completing 58.8% of his passes for 2,609 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.[9] With the arrival of offensive coordinatorCam Cameron in 2013, Mettenberger led LSU to a 9–3 regular season record, completing 64.9% of his passes for 3,082 yards, 22 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, with a yards-per-pass attempt of 10.41 and a quarterback rating of 171.4.[10] He was the first LSU quarterback to throw for 2,500+ yards in back-to-back seasons and was a two-time team captain. Mettenberger tore hisACL in LSU's final regular season game againstArkansas.[11] He underwent surgery and 13 weeks later, he fully participated in LSU'sPro Day. He threw nearly 125 passes while wearing a helmet and shoulder pads and completed over 90% of his passes.[12] He graduated from LSU in December 2013 with a degree in General Studies.[13]
| Season | 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 | |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft4+7⁄8 in (1.95 m) | 224 lb (102 kg) | 32+3⁄8 in (0.82 m) | 9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) | |||||||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[14][15] | ||||||||||||
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Mettenberger was selected by theTennessee Titans in the sixth round (178th overall) of the2014 NFL draft.[16][17]
On September 28, 2014, Mettenberger made his NFL debut in relief ofCharlie Whitehurst in a 41–17 loss to theIndianapolis Colts. He went 2-of-5 for 17 yards with an interception.[18]
On October 22, the Titans decided that Mettenberger would start over bothJake Locker and Whitehurst against theHouston Texans.[19] Mettenberger and the Titans lost 30–16 to the Texans; he was 27-of-41 for 299 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.[20]
Mettenberger started against thePittsburgh Steelers in hisMonday Night Football debut on November 17, going 15-of-24 for two touchdowns and an interception and hitting teammate (and former Steeler)Nate Washington for an 80-yard touchdown.[21] During a 36–7 blowout loss to theNew York Giants, Mettenberger sustained a shoulder injury and missed the last 3 games.[22] He finished his rookie season with 8 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and 1,412 passing yards, while also rushing for 4 yards. He started in six games for the Titans, all of which were losses.[23] The Titans ended their season last in the division with a 2–14 record.
In the 2015 season, Mettenberger played in seven games, starting four of them, to replace injured first-round rookie and starterMarcus Mariota.[24][25] He threw for 935 yards and four touchdowns with seven interceptions while also rushing for 8 yards and a touchdown.[24]
Mettenberger was released by the Titans on May 16, 2016.[26]
On May 17, 2016, Mettenberger was claimed off waivers by theSan Diego Chargers.[27] On August 30, Mettenberger was cut from the team.[28]
On August 31, 2016, Mettenberger was claimed off waivers by thePittsburgh Steelers.[29] He did not play in any games during the2016 NFL season and was inactive for 12 of the Steelers' 16 regular season games, as well as all three playoff games.
Mettenberger was active for Weeks 4 and 5 (against theKansas City Chiefs andNew York Jets, respectively) as the third quarterback behindBen Roethlisberger andLandry Jones. He was also active as the backup for Weeks 7 and 17 (against theNew England Patriots andCleveland Browns, respectively) behind Jones, while Roethlisberger recovered from an injury against the Miami Dolphins and rested for the playoffs in the season finale.
Following the Steelers' drafting ofJoshua Dobbs in the fourth round of the2017 NFL draft, Mettenberger was released on May 1, 2017.[30]
In 2018, Mettenberger joinedThe Spring League and was assigned to the West team.[31]
In August 2018, Mettenberger signed with the newly-formedAlliance of American Football'sMemphis Express.[32] On November 27, Mettenberger was drafted by the Express in the fourth round of the2019 AAF QB Draft.[33]
Mettenberger opened the2019 AAF season as the third-string quarterback behindChristian Hackenberg andBrandon Silvers. For their third game of the year against theOrlando Apollos, he became the backup after Silvers suffered an injury and entered the game during the second half to replace a struggling Hackenberg;[34] despite losing 21–17, Mettenberger threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns. On February 25, Express head coachMike Singletary named Mettenberger the starter.[34][35] In his first start against theSan Diego Fleet, he completed 18-of-25 passes for 174 yards and a passing touchdown, and made a rushing touchdown, as Memphis won 26–23, the first victory in team history.[36]
Against theSalt Lake Stallions on March 16, Mettenberger was injured and replaced by Silvers. The Express announced the signing of quarterbackJohnny Manziel soon after the game.[37] Mettenberger was placed oninjured reserve two days later.
The league ceased operations in April 2019.[38]
After being passed up in the2020 XFL Draft, Mettenberger re-signed with The Spring League as starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Hughes, thehost team.[39][40] He lost the starting quarterback competition againstBryan Scott.[41]
Mettenberger was selected by the Austin Generals in The Spring League's player selection draft on October 12, 2020.[42]
| Year | Team | League | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2014 | TEN | NFL | 7 | 6 | 107 | 179 | 59.8 | 1,412 | 7.9 | 8 | 7 | 83.4 | 5 | 4 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2015 | TEN | NFL | 7 | 4 | 101 | 166 | 60.8 | 935 | 5.6 | 4 | 7 | 66.7 | 9 | 8 | 0.9 | 1 |
| 2016 | PIT | NFL | 0 | 0 | DNP | |||||||||||
| 2019 | MEM | AAF | 4 | 3 | 36 | 54 | 66.7 | 475 | 8.8 | 3 | 1 | 105.1 | 7 | 3 | 0.4 | 2 |
| Career[43][44] | 18 | 13 | 244 | 399 | 61.2 | 2,822 | 7.1 | 15 | 15 | 79.4 | 21 | 15 | 0.7 | 3 | ||
In July 2020, Mettenberger was announced as the new offensive coordinator of theHillsboro High School football team, having previously expressed interest in coaching at the school during his playing career.[45][46] In September 2021, he was announced as an assistant football coach forFather Ryan High School.[47] In February 2022, Mettenberger joined the staff of theAlabama Crimson Tide as a coaching analyst.[48] He rejoined the Father Ryan staff in 2024 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.[49] On February 18, 2025, Mettenberger was announced as the new head coach at Father Ryan.[50]
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