Zach Mettenberger measured in at 6'5" and 224 at the scouting combine. He's a big guy, with a bigger arm and a lot of potential. Before tearing his ACL and spraining his MCL against Arkansas, Mettenberger was considered by some to be a potential first round pick. He suffered the injury in late November. He wasn't able to have surgery on his ACL until early in January because doctors wanted to wait for his MCL to heal. So it's very surprising to hear that Mettenberger plans to throw for scouts on March 27th at LSUs Pro Day, not even 4 months after his surgery. In addition to being a testament to Mettenberger's work ethic, being ready to throw at this point should give teams hope that he'll be ready to play sooner than later. With that in mind, let's talk about some numbers.
Zach Mettenberger started his college career with the Georgia Bulldogs. After some off the field issues as a Freshman he was kicked off of the team and had to go play junior college ball. After a year playing JUCO ball Mettenberger transferred to LSU. As a senior Mettenberger passed for 3,082 yards, 22 TDs, 8 INTs and a completion percentage of 64.9%. Of my top 10 QBs, Mettenberger ranked 6th in completion percentage and 1st in yards per completion during his senior season. Mettenburger's yards per completion average was 16.1. The next closest QB was Blake Bortles with a 13.8 yard average. This is a testament to Mettenberger's ability to work the ball down the field.
Strengths:
Arm Strength- I remember hearing a story while Georgia was recruiting Mettenberger about him shattering one of his receivers eye sockets with a ball that he fired a little too hard on a slant. I didn't believe the story at first but then I watched Mettenberger in Georgia's spring game. I remember thinking after the game that his receiver with the shattered eye socket was lucky that his head was still attached. Mettenberger has a howitzer attached to his right shoulder. Watching him throw is like watching Usain Bolt run a 100 meter dash. Everyone else looks like they're running as hard as they can while Bolt looks like he's taking a jog. That's what Mettenberger's arm strength is like. There's not a lot of arm or body action but the ball comes out hot. I think all of his receivers would describe his passes ass heavy. He throws the type of ball that'll take you along for a ride if your feet aren't on the ground when it hits your hands. Aside from Derek Carr, Mettenberger has the strongest arm of in this years draft class. He can make the deep out and comeback throws effortlessly. Watch the video below to see the arm strength that I'm talking about.
Deep Ball Accuracy- Mettenberger has proved that he can connect on deep passes. He's a bit inconsistent with his setup and trajectory but he gets the ball into his receiver's hands. When he's under center teams have to respect his ability to go deep. That's something that will make him valuable immediately. With some coaching I think he could become an elite deep ball passer.
Pocket Presence/Footwork- Mettenberger took a lot of snaps from under center at LSU. Certainly a lot more than most college QBs do these days. For such a big guy, Mettenberger does a great job of getting away from center quickly and creating space between himself and his offensive line. He needs to start climbing the pocket more consistently. He stands tall in the pocket and isn't afraid of pressure. He routinely steps into throws even though he knows he's going to take a hit. For a guy that isn't going to make a lot of defenders miss, this is an important trait. Luckily Mettenberger has the size to absorb a lot of hits.
Awareness-Mettenberger always has the down, distance, field position, score and amount of time left on the clock running through his mind. He knows when a play is dead. He throws the ball away when he knows a play isn't going to work. He'll tuck the ball away and fight for a yard or two if it means staying in field goal range. It' not something that people will talk about much, but this is one of Mettenberger's biggest assets.
Weaknesses:
Mobility- Zach Mettenberger probably hasn't won too many footraces in his life. He's a big guy and he moves like one. The thing that concerns me about his lack of mobility is that he struggles with throwing on the run. It just means that teams will have to give him enough time to get the ball off because he's not going to make a lot of plays when he's forced to improvise. You can see some examples of Mettenberger throwing on the run in the video below.
Touch- It's pretty common for big, strong, Quarterbacks to struggle with touch. Mettenberger flashes the ability to put touch on the ball at times but in the 10 games I watched from his senior season, he seemed to struggle with putting touch on the ball more often than not. It's a skill he'll need to improve as he continues to develop as a QB. You can see what I mean in the video below.
Overview:
Zach Mettenberger is a big, strong armed quarterback, who makes good decisions. He needs to develop the ability to use his eyes to manipulate the defense. He also needs to work on getting the ball out of his hands on timing throws. But the guy has too much talent for those things to keep him off of the field. Zach Mettenberger will be a starter in the NFL and he'll be successful.
Draft Projection- Late 2nd-Early 3rd Round- Before the injury Mettenberger might have been a late first round pick. I think he has second round talent but the injury and off the field issues are a concern. Assuming Mettenberger is done getting in trouble and that he stays healthy, whoever selects him will be getting great value.
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