Paul Kuharsky, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Zach Mettenberger has a feel for the importance of good body language

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- On a bad, struggling team with a young, inexperienced quarterback, that quarterback is going to draw a great deal of attention.

If he shows good signs, he provides the one positive thing that team can have: Hope for the future.

Through his first three starts, Zach Mettenberger is offering some of that for the Tennessee Titans.

I’ve written about how he’s willing to shoulder blame, how he felt ready for the Steelers' complicated looks, how the team is focused on him and not some future alternative, how quickly he was getting rid of the ball, how a strength became a weakness in Baltimore, how he reacted to criticism from J.J. Watt about social media use, and how the Titans will assess him.

To name a few. (Feel free to click on all of those and catch up and hit me with a little traffic boost.)

Obviously, the key element to all of this is production. Can he play well enough to lead the Titans to wins? He hasn’t yet. But as he works to get that first one, it’s fair to look at a lot of the elements that make for a successful quarterback.

Today’s subject: Body language.

The way a player carries himself can say a lot about him. I think that is certainly more the case with a quarterback.

Mettenberger agrees.

“Being a quarterback, you’re always going to be more self-conscious about your body language,” he said. “It can be perceived that you’re down. If the defense sees that, it’s like a shark with blood in the water. They’ll swarm. You’ve definitely got to be conscious about it…

“You’ve got to walk around with your chest poked out even though it [might be] false security. You can’t let that defense see any insecurity in you.”

A quarterback’s own team can read a lot into that as well. When they see their guy pop up from a big hit and stand assuredly in the huddle, it has a contagious effect.

I like the early handle Mettenberger has on things such as blame and body language.

They are important things for a young quarterback to grasp, and he’s got a feel for them. Pair them with the big arm and the willingness to stand in the pocket, and it all factors into the reason for hope at the position for the Titans.

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