Florida quarterback Graham Mertz is back for his 6th and final season of college football and is looking to make a significant jump in production in 2024. The former Wisconsin quarterback is coming off a career year with the Gators, tossing for collegiate highs in yards (2,910) and touchdowns (20) while throwing a career low three interceptions.
Head coach Billy Napier discussed the positive impact Mertz will have on Florida’s 2024 squad at SEC Media Days on Wednesday afternoon.
“The No. 1 storyline and the biggest decision that was made to affect our team is when Graham Mertz decided to come back and play quarterback for the Gators,” Napier said.
Mertz is one of the more experienced quarterbacks in college football, bringing a combined 43 starts, 8,308 yards, and 58 touchdowns to Gainesville in 2024.
“I think he learned a lot while he was at Wisconsin,” Napier said on Mertz. “I can still remember having a conversation with Paul Chryst about Graham, and he had ups and downs. He had had some really great days, and then he had some really tough days. I think some of that maturity helped him reset, recenter, and approach our team in a little bit different way.”
The 6’3, 215-pound quarterback gained respect from his teammates with his consistency both on and off the field in 2023. Multiple sources tell Gator Country that Mertz was the first player inside the facility and the last one to leave on a day-to-day basis throughout his first season at UF. That consistent approach showed up on the gridiron as well, where Mertz completed 72.9% of his passes, which ranked 3rd in all of college football.
“Graham has got character. He cares. He’s a worker. He’s probably one of the more fun players to coach I’ve had in my career. He matches your level of preparedness. You show up to the meeting and you’re coaching Graham Mertz, you’d better be ready to go,” Napier said on Mertz. “But I would tell you it’s a product of the work. Graham, he earned every bit of it, and he earned the respect of his teammates with the way that he competed last year. He’s primed to have a breakout year here. It’s a big deal for Graham to be back to play quarterback for our team.”
While Mertz returning for the 2024 season will positively impact Florida’s on-field play in 2024, he also gets the chance to play a role in the development of five-star freshman DJ Lagway.
“He’s getting a chance to observe, in my opinion, one of the best quarterbacks in the country who goes about it the right way in Graham Mertz,” Napier said on Lagway’s improvements.
“We were talking about Graham coming back and how I told him that was going to be the best thing that ever happened to him, and he said, Coach, I get that now after going through the entire first semester,” Napier said on a conversation he had with Lagway.
If Mertz can make a conscious effort to take more calculated risks down the field, he could be in for a breakout year in 2024.