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Rookie QB Zach Mettenberger to start for Titans; Jake Locker's future with team in doubt



The Tennessee Titans are moving to their third quarterback of the season in Week 8. Rookie Zach Mettenberger will be under center for Tennessee when the Titans face off with the Houston Texans Sunday. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt made the announcement Thursday. "We're going with Zach," Whisenhunt emphasized, "and we're going to stay with Zach."This likely spells the end for QB Jake Locker in Tennessee. The Titans have not picked up the option to re-sign him for 2015. He is set to become a free agent in March. Locker, the Titans' first-round pick (eighth overall) in the 2011 draft, has been a huge disappointment, as he's been unable to stay healthy enough to remain the team's starter. In his four games this season, Locker has completed 58 percent of his passes for 764 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.Mettenberger, the Titans' 2014 sixth-round draft pick out of LSU, will be making his first career start. He threw for 3,082 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions his senior year for the Tigers.



When you get to your third-string QB by week 8, and that guy is a rookie you drafted in the sixth round, that isn't good. Such is the life of the Titans this week. Mettenberger is unproven and has never seen a defense like the ones he'll see from now until the end of the season. Obviously, he's not a QB you're going to start. The players that take the biggest his are WRs Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter. They have a good matchup in Week 8 against a Texans secondary that allows the third-most fantasy points per game to receivers. With Mettenberger at QB, knock them down a notch. Wright probably drops to a low-end WR2 option this week. Hunter is a flier at flex, at best.