The Pittsburgh Steelers have claimed quarterback Zach Mettenberger off waivers after he was released by the San Diego Chargers. Mettenberger was previously released by the Tennessee Titans in May.
Mettenberger was drafted in the sixth round of the 2014 draft by the Titans out of LSU. In seven games in 2014, he threw for 1,412 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions — for a quarterback rating of 83.4. In 2015, his numbers were worse in the same number of games (7): 935 yards, four touchdowns, seven interceptions, 66.7 quarterback rating.
The move to grab Mettenberger makes sense for the Steelers. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has a history of missing games due to injury, so having solid backup quarterbacks make sense. (Especially since Pittsburgh’s backup quarterbacks seems to get injured, as well.)
And, right, now, there are a lot of question marks regarding who the Steelers’ backup QB should be. Landry Jones seems the likely choice, but he’s looked shaky in preseason games. If Bruce Gradkowski was healthy, he’d fit the billing well, but he’s not — and he was placed on IR to make room for Mettenberger. Third-string QB Dustin Vaughan fractured his right thumb, so Pittsburgh signed perennial practice squad QB Bryn Renner.
Finding a good No. 2 or, at least, No. 3 quarterback makes sense.
Mettenberger has a strong arm, stands tall in the pocket and is reasonably accurate — plus, he’s only 25 years old. He does get sacked and fumble a bit — he’s been sacked 31 times and fumbled eight times in his 14 starts — so he’s a bit of a question mark, but he could still be a solid upgrade on what the Steelers’ options are at the moment.
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