A little more than four months removed from major ACL surgery to his left knee, former LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger wanted to prove at the LSU Pro Day that his late-season injury wouldn’t inhibit his ability to perform.
Fortunately for Mettenberger, his favorite pair of wide receivers, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, were on the receiving end of his passes.

“It was great to get out there and compete and throw the ball around with all my guys that I threw with for three years one final time,” Mettenberger said.
While 18 other players made their cases to representatives from all 32 NFL teams, most of the attention at the LSU Pro Day on Wednesday was centered on the popular Tiger trio, who wanted to show their skill sets could translate to the next level.
For Mettenberger, it was an opportunity to show pro scouts his surgically repaired left knee was no longer a concern.
“I’ve been saying for a couple weeks now that I’m healthy and good enough to go, and I don’t think [anyone] believed me,” Mettenberger said. “I wanted to show that I could go out there and take an explosive drop and throw the ball downfield like everyone knows I can.”
Attempting to come back from major surgery, there was some rust to his game as Mettenberger said he’s spent much of his offseason preparation rehabbing his surgically repaired knee. Passes the former LSU quarterback routinely made for the Tigers were off-target, but he displayed healthy movement from his left leg.
Overall, he was pleased with his performance.
“I think people think it’s pretty remarkable where I’m at 13 weeks [after surgery],” Mettenberger said. “I wasn’t too pleased with myself on some of those throws today. But all things considered, I think I did OK, but there’s still a lot of room to improve.”
Landry faced a similar situation to Mettenberger’s. In February’s NFL Combine, Landry had a pulled right hamstring that limited his 40-yard dash to an alarming 4.77, the worst time of any receiver there.
But Landry said his discouraging performance at the combine fueled his offseason preparation.

“I kind of felt bitter about it, but at the same time, I knew I had to get better and not let that take me down,” Landry said. “I had to recover from an injury to get stronger so I could get faster and perform well.”
At the LSU Pro Day, Landry silenced some of his critics by registering a much-improved 4.52.
“I was ecstatic, just being able to show my straight-line speed and show the drastic improvement from my injury,” Landry said. “But I’m not happy with just running a great time. It’s still a process, and until I’m drafted, I’m going to continue to work.”
But of the former Tiger trio, Beckham is the only one projected to be a first round pick. ESPN draft analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay both ranked him as a top-four receiver in this year’s class. Beckham recently accepted an invitation to attend this year’s draft in New York City.
“It’s a little surprising now to see that they’re saying that I’m one of the best [receivers], but it’s a great feeling to me because it’s something that I worked,” Beckham said.

Though he’d be happy to play for whichever team selects him, Beckham, a New Orleans native, is thrilled with the potential of playing for his hometown Saints. Beckham said he and a few members of the Saints’ coaching staff planned to have dinner after the pro day festivities, making his childhood dream start to seem like a real possibility.
“I’ve always talked about how I wanted to play in the [Superdome],” Beckham said. “I got one chance in college, but it wasn’t what I expected at all. Just the possibility of me getting to play in my hometown, in the dome, is a surreal feeling.”

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Richard Redmann

LSU senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger (8) throws a pass during LSU Pro Day on Wednesday, April 9, 2014 in the LSU Indoor Practice Facility.