FanPost

Making the Case Against: Zach Mettenberger

Well, since our benevolent writers here on the Daily Norseman have/had a series going about making a case for certain players to be drafted by the Vikings, I thought I would do a few posts of my own on players I believe the Vikings SHOULD NOT draft. I will start with the player that I honestly have the most dislike towards: Zach Mettenberger.

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via media.247sports.com

Things going for him: Well, he is tall (6'5") and he has a cannon for an arm. So there's that, I guess. He ran a pro-style offense under Cam Cameron while at LSU, who helped develop his game a fair bit; probably went from a sixth or later round pick to a 3rd or 4th rounder because of Cam's tutelage. He is efficient in the short to intermediate passing game.

Things going against him: Where do I begin...?

1. He's fairly immobile to put it lightly. In the six draft profile sites I looked at while compiling this report, the phrase "heavy-footed" was used in three, and the other three also were not complimentary at his ability to move around in the pocket. His mobility certainly wasn't helped when he suffered an ACL injury during his senior year at LSU. Speaking of which...

2. He tore his ACL. And while ACL injuries don't often happen twice, Greg Childs is a good example that freak accidents can happen multiple times to the same athlete, so his injury recovery/status is something to keep an eye on.

3. Takes a LOT of sacks. This is something else that many of the reports had in common. Mettenberger has a fairly slow release, which is a very bad thing for a pro QB to have. This slow release leads to him taking sacks because he wasn't able to get the ball off in time. Taking sacks is a symptom of...

4. Iffy mechanics. Mettenberger has a tendency for putting too much faith in how powerful his arm is, which has led to him underthrowing targets on deeper routes. His base is also too inconsistent, which causes a few issues when it comes to how much power he is able to put into his throws. From the SBNation scouting report on him: "On delivery, he drops his arm down and back to sling the ball. Mettenberger's arm strength helps make up for the longer release, but defensive backs can break better on his throws because of the release."

5. He doesn't adjust to blitzes very well. From Bleacher Report: "Occasionally reluctant to pull the trigger, holds on to the ball for too long and takes some bad sacks." And again from SBN: "When a blitz is coming, he'll try to adjust and throw and that will kill his accuracy." CBSSports: "Needs to better feel blitz and show better awareness of his surroundings."

6. Off the field red flags. Not only does he have issues on the field, he also has previous legal/drug issues. "Strong off-field character concerns after a March 2010 arrest for sexual battery and alcohol consumption - also has a history of recreational drug use and overall immaturity" (CBSSports). "pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery after groping a woman in 2010, which led to him being kicked off of the team at Georgia" (DraftHeadquarters).

Result: Please, please, please Minnesota don't draft him. Let some other team that has the patience to iron out his multitude of issues take him.

Round: Most prognosticators say that his stock should put him as a third to fourth round pick, but I have seen him being drafted as high as the second and a few people have him as low as the fifth or sixth round.

Sources:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2014/profiles/zach-mettenberger?id=2543605

http://www.draftheadquarters.com/Reports/Zach-Mettenberger.htm

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1664450/zach-mettenberger

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2014/4/27/5658620/zach-mettenberger-scouting-report

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1953659-zach-mettenberger-scouting-report-nfl-outlook-for-lsu-qb

http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2014/4/16/5614914/lsu-2014-nfl-draft-profiles-zach-mettenberger

Let me know what you think of my analysis. I hope to have a few more of these up by the time the weekend is over.

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.