LSU Offers QB Zach Mettenberger
Murmurings of this slipped through the crack late last week, but I waited to see if an official LSU affiliate would confirm before bringing it here. Tigerbait.com is reporting that Les Miles has officially extended an offer to former UGA, current Butler C.C. QB Zach Mettenberger.
Mettenberger was a 2009 Georgia signee who ranked as the No. 11 Pro Style QB in a class that featured Garrett Gilbert, Matt Barkley, and Aaron Murray amongst others. Mettenberger is currently a Sophomore. It seems if he takes the offer, he could be redshirted and still be eligible to play the next two seasons, which would provide an immediate stop gap to the QB problems which arose with the departure of Zach Lee.
As a player, Mettenberger is a big kid (6'5, 224) with decent mobility (very similar to JJ in that regard). He's got a nice, classic delivery, with a good over the top release point and he gets the ball out quickly. His arm strength doesn't wow me, but he places a nice touch on the ball. If I'm not mistaken, Mettenberger was leading Aaron Murray heading into the summer for the starting QB job at UGA. That speaks to his ability (Murray was ranked 8 spots higher than him in the same recruiting class).
Mettenberger has a field of offers, but I imagine he would love to get back to the SEC, so having no knowledge of the situation, I would figure LSU would be an early favorite based on favorable playing opportunity as well as location.
A lot of attention will surely be paid to his being booted from UGA. There was an incident involving alcohol and girls and fake ids. Does that mean he's a bad apple? Or was it just a stupid mistake by a young kid? Hard to say, but to be landing interest from D1 schools that tells me schools are either impressed with his talent enough to overlook it or not worried about it.
over 1 year ago
Paul Crewe
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"banished from the city of Valdosta"
I know I shouldn’t, but I laugh every time I read that sentence
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
Also
If he accepts, this vid will lead the day here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3UsvLyu3N0
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
just imagine
if we still had cecil the diesel.
by haveagreatday on Sep 9, 2010 8:38 AM CDT up reply actions
Just for clarification's sake...
Wasn’t he a redshirt freshman when he got dismissed from Georgia? Wouldn’t that mean that he cannot redshirt at LSU?
by Gas_House_Gorillas on Sep 9, 2010 8:25 AM CDT reply actions
I'm not sure...but...
Butler CC lists him as a SO.
So I took that to mean that he’s played last year some, not redshirted.
After research...
I think he is a redshit freshman right now, so he would enter next year as a sophomore with three years of eligibility.
by Gas_House_Gorillas on Sep 9, 2010 9:24 AM CDT reply actions
He's good, we're desperate...
… but I don’t really like this. He better fly on a serious straight and narrow. It’s not okay to sexual assault people.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
It's "not okay" to shoot someone; it's "not okay" to litter.
There are varying degrees of “not okay,” and there are varying degrees of sexual misconduct. What he plead out to seems relatively minor – an unwanted, one time bar groping. His apology — talking about how he “hopes the young lady can move on with her life” — suggests something a lot more troubling. And we all know what someone pleads to and what actually happened are actually two very different things.
The permanent banishing from the city is bizarre and possibly unconstitutional. Does this happen regularly in GA?
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Sep 9, 2010 11:15 AM CDT up reply actions
I understand it...
…doesn’t mean I like it. I would do the same thing if was Les. It just feels icky.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
From the description of what he did
I have done the same thing before. I mean, touching a girl against her will is not cool, but it’s not rape or anything.
Gregatron is not responsible for any of the crap he just wrote.
St. Louis vegetarian blog
I think people in general deserve a second chance,
for a one time drunken mistake, particularly if they show contrition and have made an effort to rehabilitate themselves. But I don’t like minimizing what he did. It’s unacceptable.
I’m ok with the argument that he made a mistake, he’s paid for it and it shouldn’t impact his entire career/life if he doesn’t repeat. I’m even OK with LSU offering him a scholarship as long as he’s on a very short leash behaviorally. But let’s not use the argument that it wasn’t that big a deal. A drunken 6’5" 228 pound man groping a girl against her will is a lot worse IMO than lifting a laptop or smoking some pot.
Well I am not saying it's okay.
I am saying there is sexual assault and then there’s sexual assault. And one drunken mistake does not make one a bad person — it makes him human.
I don’t think we really disagree here. :P
Gregatron is not responsible for any of the crap he just wrote.
St. Louis vegetarian blog
Better be a shining example of behavioral perfection.
That said, it sounds like the kid deserves a second chance. I think they used this situation to make an example of him more than anything. By no means am I saying what he did is condoned, but it seems to me that the publicity of the situation is what got him in more trouble than the actual event.
And I have to agree with PodKATT about the “banishing”. I keep picturing this irate and animated old curly white wig wearing judge standing up and with a booming voice declaring’ “YOU ARE THEREFORE BANISHED FROM THE GREAT CITY OF VALDOSTA, GEORGIA… FOREVER!”. Of course, I’m probably embellishing a bit.
"Of course, I’m probably embellishing a bit."
Have you seen Valdosta lately?
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
A couple of corrections:
He redshirted at Georgia last year, so he wouldn’t be able to redshirt again. He should come in (if he were to come) with three years of eligibility remaining.
He wasn’t leading Murray in the QB race. He had a better G-Day than Murray and had been improving a lot, but he was still behind Murray (and Logan Gray) on the depth chart.
I’m not sure where you heard that he had decent mobility or that his arm wasn’t that great. It’s quite the opposite. His feet might as well be rooted to the ground, but he has a cannon for an arm. Most comparisons I heard were that he’s very similar to Mallett…he can launch the ball, but he’s not going to do anything with his legs. His footwork, however, was said to be improving by leaps and bounds before he got booted.
In any event, he would certainly be a valuable QB to get, the bigger question is whether or not he wants to return to the SEC. His mother is a longtime assistant in the Athletic Department Office at UGA, working under Richt. This is mere speculation, but I could see her not wanting him to return to the SEC for a few reasons.
I was confused as well
The post sounded like a description of Murray, not Mett.
I would actually like to see Mettenberger back in the SEC. A matchup between him and Murray would make for good drama. I guess it’d have to be in an SECCG though.
by WindyCityDawg on Sep 9, 2010 2:45 PM CDT up reply actions
No, it could happen in their senior year.
If the current scheduling cycle holds, Georgia should play in Baton Rouge their senior year.
by hailtogeorgia on Sep 9, 2010 2:58 PM CDT up reply actions
Thanks.
This article confirms your sentiments: http://www.ajc.com/sports/uga/updating-ugas-qb-competition-297191.html
Regarding Mettenberger’s mobility/arm strength, all I had to base it off of was the 5 minute clip I linked above. I didn’t dig around for anything about him as a player, but he showed pretty solid mobility on the tape, and Rivals lists him at 4.7. So that’s hardly Ryan Mallett sand in your shoes.
As for the arm strength, if he does have a cannon, it doesn’t show on that tape. Now, that may be because of limitations due to his offense and what not, but his throws look to be adequate, not overwhelming.
If there’s more tape, I’d be glad to look at it, but from what I had those were the conclusions I drew.
as a dawg fan
I don’t think you’ll have any more behavior problems. He just made a mistake. That being said, he definitely did something worse than stealing a laptop and it just wasn’t normal college type stuff. If a girl files charges on you, you did more than just slap her butt. So the few (I know, few) that are making out to be nothing, tread lightly there.
But I’m sure he’ll be fine from here on out. I don’t know if I like the fact that he gets to come back to the conference so easily. I feel like we’re getting punished for doing the right thing and LSU reaps our misfortune. But like I said, he’s a good kid. I wish him many an 8 win season (that’s not a shot at LSU, that’s the level of success I wish him.)
corrections
Actually the college girl did not charge him. She was at the bar with her boyfriend. All he did was drunkenly slap her butt. He got thrown out of the bar. The cop saw him get thrown out and did an investigation. He has more then paid his price for what he did. He learned a valuable lesson. With that said, he did nothing that every other college football player does or has done. Or for that matter, any guy. He has a lot of offers, and for all we know LSU is not even in the running. Last I looked up, he had also been offered by bama and 5 other D1 schools. This kid is the real deal. Im anxious to see where he goes.
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