The Tennessee Titans turned quite a few heads back in the 2015 NFL Draft by snagging a QB in the first round. With 2011 first-round pick Jake Locker retiring unexpectedly after the 2014 season, the team was on the hunt for a new signal-caller. But rumor had it that Chiefs coach Andy Reid was itching to trade up for that No. 2 overall pick the Titans held.
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That trade-up never came to pass, though, leaving Tennessee free to pull the trigger on Oregon product Marcus Mariota. And not everyone in the locker room was thrilled with the pick.
Turns out, Taylor Lewan was firmly in the no-Mariota camp. The former offensive tackle had been drafted just the season before in 2014, along with sixth-round QB Zach Mettenberger, and the two quickly became close. When Jake Locker got hurt in his final season, it was Mettenberger who stepped in and flashed some real promise.
Lewan was hoping that momentum would carry into the next season, giving his buddy the starting job, but the surprising pick of Mariota threw a sort of wrench in that plan. Unsurprisingly, Lewan wasn’t happy, and he recently shared … with Mariota himself … just how frustrated he was.
“You got drafted. I was at Nissan Stadium, and obviously, you know, I was massive boys with Mettenberger. And you know Mett’s personality, so when you got picked, I was like, ‘F*ck.’ I was so mad that you were picked,” Lewan told Mariota on Bussin with The Boys about four months ago.
“I was like Zach’s gonna take us to the top, man,” the former offensive tackle added.
Lewan ended up calling Mettenberger and even stopped by his house to give him some support. He was probably rooting for his buddy to snag the starting job anyway.
Back then, reports even started surfacing that Mettenberger was asking for a trade, but Lewan told the press that his teammate wasn’t the type to just pack up and run. And he was right, Mettenberger stayed. But when OTAs rolled around, Lewan now admits he knew it was over for the QB he had been backing so strongly.
“You get picked, whatever. I immediately leave the thing, I call Zach, ‘Where you at?’ I went and sat with him for a little bit.”
“But I remember OTAs, it was a rookie minicamp, we were all kind of like peering out the window like, ‘Hey, what’s this kid about? What’s this Hawaiian guy about?’ and you were zipping the ball on the field. I remember sitting there with Matt, thinking to myself, ‘It’s so over. You are done, amigo.'”
Mettenberger got about four starts that season for the Titans before being traded. Mariota, meanwhile, rode the wave for the next five seasons, though he didn’t exactly live up to the hype.
The former Heisman winner finished with a 29-32 record in the next five years before turning into a journeyman QB. He’s now in Washington, backing sophomore sensation Jayden Daniels.
