The Titans took Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick in the draft on Thursday night, ending weeks of speculation about whether they planned to select the Heisman Trophy winner or trade the pick to someone who was willing to pay a hefty ransom for the right to do so.
While that speculation was going on, there was plenty of talk about the Titans’ high regard for Zach Mettenberger including reports that the Titans saw him as a “poor man’s Tom Brady.” Mettenberger was a sixth-round pick in 2014, the same round that Brady went in, but the Titans ultimately chose Mariota in hopes that he’ll be their starting quarterback for a long time.
After the Mariota pick was in, General Manager Ruston Webster said that the team planned to hold onto Mettenberger and that appears to suit the quarterback just fine. Mettenberger’s agent Joe Linta said, via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, that his client doesn’t want to be traded and just wants a chance to compete for the starting job.
He may get one, but it isn’t setting up to be a level playing field. Coach Ken Whisenhunt said Thursday that the plan was for Mariota to be the team’s starter in the season opener, which sets up a scenario where Mettenberger would have to be a clearly better choice than the player that just went No. 2 in the draft.
It’s not impossible that things play out that way, but if the Titans thought they would then they probably would have done something else with their first-round pick.