How Zach Mettenberger Fits in with the Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans decided to take a suspenseful approach as to when they were going to take a quarterback, if at all. They finally pulled the trigger by selecting Zach Mettenberger early in the sixth round.

Inconsistency and frustration has been a common trend for this team since Steve McNair left in 2006. It's the main reason why the Titans have been an overall average team for several years now, and that's the situation Mettenberger is walking into. Luckily, he has no pressure to start right away after being drafted in the sixth round.

A trade with the Redskins allowed the Titans to move up eight picks, which may have been critical to getting Mettenberger. He was already a steal by slipping to the sixth round.

The obvious question now is how Mettenberger will affect Jake Locker and his starter status. The early belief has to be that Locker's starting role is safe and secure. Unless he completely tanks in training camp, I can't see Mettenberger leap-frogging Locker on the depth chart.

Mettenberger is clearly a project at this point, and ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted about this subject.

"

Tennessee takes a QB with the 178th overall pick in round 6: LSU's Zach Mettenberger. Now a Ken Whisenhunt project.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 10, 2014"

A rocky start of 0-4 or worse would make it tempting to throw Mettenberger into the fire if he's already showing promise from training camp and practices.

Mettenberger has the strong arm and size that translates to the NFL. He's your prototypical pocket passer and is almost the complete opposite of how Locker plays the game.

The recent diluted urine sample and back concerns caused Mettenberger to slide this far down the draft board. However, the Titans don't carry a lot of risk with this pick. The worst-case scenario could mean that the Titans are once again in the market for a quarterback next year.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com believes Mettenberger landed in a good spot here with Tennessee. Very little pressure involved and plenty of time to develop.

Mettenberger needs a solid year to develop under Whisenhunt, leaving him possibly ready to go as the team's starter heading into the 2015 season. He has the perfect coach to develop him into an eventual NFL starter.

You have to wonder how this will motivate Locker when the regular season approaches. It's a quarterback-driven league, and the Titans have been in search of their franchise quarterback for nearly a decade.