Zach Mettenberger to start for Titans over Jake Locker

The Jake Locker era in Tennessee appears to officially be over.

The Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt reported on Wednesday night that the Titans plans to start Zach Mettenberger at quarterback on Sunday against the Houston Texans even though Locker is ready for game action for the first time since hurting his thumb in Week 5. Coach Ken Whisenhunt even said Locker would be the team’s starter when he became healthy, but it looks like he’s changed his mind.

Mettenberger is a sixth-round pick out of LSU and it looks like the Titans are prepared to see what he has to offer. The LSU product went 2/5 for 17 yards with an interception in his only regular-season action this year. He was solid in the preseason, throwing for 659 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

A big-bodied, big-armed quarterback, Mettenberger dropped in the draft because he was recovering from a torn ACL suffered in LSU’s final regular-season game last year. He started off his college career at Georgia but transferred to a JC after a sexual battery incident at a bar before joining LSU prior to the 2011 season.

It’s a little surprising that the Titans are switching away from Locker with so much time left in the season, but they’ve apparently decided he is not the franchise answer and they want to see what Mettenberger can do. We always felt the Titans reached for Locker by taking him No. 8 overall in the 2011 draft. He has great athleticism and a big arm, but his accuracy issues go back to his college days. The guy struggled to hit open receivers even at Washington. Did the Titans think that would go away? It was just a bad pick by them. On top of his accuracy issues, Locker has only played in 27 games over 3+ seasons.

The Titans aren’t exactly doing Mettenberger any favors, either, by having him make his NFL debut against the Texans with JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney possibly returning from a knee injury. Thanks, guys.

Photo: Twitter/Zach Mettenberger