Taylor Potts Taylor Potts ( born October 13 , 1987 in Abilene , Texas ) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent . He was signed by the St . Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2011 but was waived during training camp , and then signed as a free agent by the San Diego Chargers in May 2012 , where he was expected to compete for the third string quarterback position . He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team . Potts served as a backup for nationally renowned quarterback Graham Harrell and took over the starting role for the 2009 season . Early years . Prior to coming to Texas Tech , Potts played at Abilene High School in Abilene , Texas . In his senior season , Potts threw for 3 , 162 yards and 53 touchdowns and garnered Class 5A Region and All - State teams . In addition to Texas Tech , Potts was recruited by Michigan , Baylor , Notre Dame , Oklahoma , Texas , and Texas A & M . College career . Potts spent his 2006 freshman season as a " redshirt , " seeing no game action but working as a member of the scout team . He then served as a backup to Graham Harrell for the 2007 and 2008 seasons , seeing limited playing time in several Tech blowout victories . In those two seasons , he compiled 669 yards passing , 5 touchdowns , and 2 interceptions . 2009 season . Potts was named Harrell ' s heir apparent and starter by Mike Leach in April 2009 . Potts beat out classmate and former walk on Steven Sheffield and highly touted Redshirt Freshman Seth Doege . In his first game against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux , he completed 34 of 48 passes for 405 yards 2 touchdowns passing and 2 on the ground , and threw three interceptions in a 38 - 13 win . The next week against the Rice Owls , Potts threw 7 touchdowns and no interceptions in 55 - 10 blowout win . For his performance he was named Big 12 Offensive player of the week . The next week , Potts played his best game to date as he faced off against # 2 Texas Longhorns led by Colt McCoy . Potts started slow but ended up with 46 completions out of 62 attempts for 420 yards , 3 touchdowns and an interception . Potts took a vicious hit from Texas Defensive End Sergio Kindle that caused a turnover that in effect sealed the close win for the Longhorns , but got back up to throw his third touchdown of the game to Tramain Swindall . Despite losing 34 - 24 , pundits noted that Potts outplayed McCoy with better numbers , and going into a hostile environment against a top 2 team and taking a vicious hit in the process . Tech fans were optimistic after the Texas game , however a shocking 29 - 28 loss to the Houston Cougars in which the Texas Tech offense failed to convert on fourth and goal from inside the one led to the Houston victory . Critics blamed Potts ' inability to use his 6 ' 6 frame to punch the ball in and seal the victory . In the next game against the New Mexico Lobos , Potts started slow and was knocked out with a Concussion . With the game tied at 7 with a minute left , back - up Steven Sheffield came in and scored to give the Raiders the lead en route to a 48 - 28 win . Potts was taken to the hospital and sat out the next 2 games , as Sheffield led Tech to blowout wins over Kansas State and Nebraska 66 - 14 , and 31 - 10 , respectively . Potts found himself back as the starter against the Texas A & M Aggies as Sheffield broke his foot against Nebraska . Potts played poorly and was benched by Leach and was replaced Seth Doege to the chants from the crowd of " No more Potts . " Tech lost to A & M 52 - 30 . Doege started the next game against the Kansas Jayhawks but was largely ineffective and Potts led the Raiders to a 42 - 21 win off the strength of the ground game . Potts had a fairly effective game despite a loss to Oklahoma State , 24 - 17 in the next game . Potts delivered his biggest win to date , a 41 - 13 drubbing of the Oklahoma Sooners and finished the season with a 20 - 13 win over the Baylor Bears , giving Tech a 8 - 4 overall record and 5 - 3 in Big 12 play . 2009 Alamo Bowl . Tech was invited to the Alamo Bowl to play against Michigan State . Potts was given the start in the Alamo Bowl , despite a healthy Steve Sheffield . Potts was effective for most of the game , but was pulled late in the 4th quarter by the interim staff , as Mike Leach had been fired earlier in the week . With Tech behind , Sheffield rallied Tech to two late scores to beat the Spartans 41 - 31 . Potts was named offensive MVP with 29 - 43 passing for 372 yards and 2 touchdowns . 2010 season . After battling against Steven Sheffield for the starting quarterback job in spring and summer practices , Potts was named the starter for the 2010 season under new Red Raider head coach Tommy Tuberville and offensive coordinator Neal Brown . Potts suffered a hand injury in spring 2010 workouts and missed the spring Red - Black scrimmage . However , he was named the starter for Tech ' s season opener against SMU . Potts threw for 359 yards , completing 34 of 53 passes , in Tech ' s win over SMU . Potts started every game for Tech during the season except for the Nov . 6 game against No . 14 Missouri . Sheffield started the Missouri game , but Potts came in shortly before halftime and led Tech to a 24 - 17 upset win over the Tigers . Potts was named the AT & T / ESPN All - America Player of the Week after passing for a Cotton Bowl - record 462 yards in Tech ' s 45 - 38 win over Baylor on Oct . 9 . In his final home game , against Houston on Nov . 27 , Potts threw for 373 yards in a 35 - 20 win over the Cougars . For the season , Potts finished with 3 , 726 passing yards , completing 369 of 551 passes ( 67 . 0 percent ) with 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions . He finished his final season as Tech ' s fourth - ranked all - time leader in passing yards ( 7 , 835 ) and the school ' s third - ranked all - time leader in touchdown passes thrown with 62 . 2011 TicketCity Bowl . Texas Tech faced Northwestern in the inaugural TicketCity Bowl , played on Jan . 1 , 2011 , in the historic Cotton Bowl stadium . Potts threw for 369 yards , completing 43 of 56 passes in Tech ' s 45 - 38 win over the Wildcats . Potts connected with former high school teammate Lyle Leong Jr . for two touchdown and also had scoring passes to Austin Zouzalik and Tramain Swindall . Potts also scored one touchdown on a perfectly executed trick play , a double pass from Potts to Zouzalik and back to Potts . For his efforts , Potts was named offensive Most Valuable Player for the game . Professional career . St . Louis Rams . Potts went undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft and was later signed by the St . Louis Rams on July 26 , 2011 , but was waived on August 15 . In May of 2012 , Potts was signed as a free agent and agreed to terms with the San Diego Chargers after a workout with the team . He was subsequently released . Personal life . Potts is a member of the Churches of Christ . Potts is a Republican . As of 2011 , Potts was engaged to Erin Methvin , alumna of Lubbock Christian University .