Florida will begin its season with Graham Mertz under center, as coach Billy Napier named the Wisconsin transfer the Gators’ starting quarterback Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Mertz announced his transfer to Florida in December 2022.
- The veteran had a 19-13 record as a starter at Wisconsin, where in 2019 he became the program’s highest-rated quarterback signee (No. 65 according to the 247Sports composite).
- The Gators open their season against Utah at Rice–Eccles Stadium on Aug. 31.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What does this mean for Florida’s season?
Experience ultimately won out here and it’s not much of a surprise. Jack Miller, a transfer from Ohio State, had made one start and played a total of 110 snaps in college.
Mertz is hardly the runner Anthony Richardson was last year. Richardson ran for 654 yards and nine touchdowns. Mertz has eight career touchdown runs in four seasons and his longest career run is 24 yards. He’ll be a pocket passer reliant on protection and a running game to support him. — Navarro
Backstory
Mertz needed a reset after falling short of stratospheric expectations at Wisconsin. Expectations were fueled by recruiting rankings and his five-touchdown debut against Illinois in 2020 as a redshirt freshman. He compiled 38 touchdown passes and 26 interceptions in three years as a starter — a stretch where the Badgers began each season 18th or higher in the AP poll only to finish unranked.
GO DEEPER
Is Graham Mertz making a leap? Inside the Wisconsin QB’s improvement
Mertz finished seventh in Big Ten passing efficiency last season (135), throwing for 2,136 yards, with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. That produced his highest individual passer rating as a starter, though the typically steady program lurched into upheaval Oct. 2 with the firing of eighth-year head coach Paul Chryst. It was Chryst who stuck with the redshirt freshman Mertz late in 2020 after veteran Jack Coan recovered from a foot injury.
Required reading
(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty)