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QB - Graham Mertz

Discussion in 'Awesome Recruiting' started by florida72, Dec 21, 2022.

  1. tegator80

    tegator80 GC Hall of Fame

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    Um, isn't it Mac who proclaims "take that!"???
     
  2. Donzo

    Donzo GC Hall of Fame

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    As a Gator and Badger fan I have a well rounded perspective on Mertz transferring to UF... Long story short, he's talented and has a shot at being a real good QB for UF. He could also be an inconsistent under performer. We'll see?!? He's also much better than Miller.

    Myself, I'm thinking he's gonna be good. Mertz was still making too many bad decisions last season and was inconsistent with the long ball. Putting him in a modern offensive system should help with that.

    The talent is there, he had great games at UW, but the antiquated system he played under always put him behind the 8-ball. UWs offense really regressed over the last decade. I have a cousin that says calling UWs offense "vanilla" was too exotic. He said it was vanilla ice cream but without the vanilla flavoring, lol- I liked that. It was also very apt. It was almost impossible for Mertz to have long term success in that system... BTW- OT here, but very interesting what Fickell/Longo have done to UWs offense. Going from the stone age to the space age in two months is surreal for UW fans.

    Back to Mertz, feel good about him next year. If he cleans a few things up, which I think he will, UF will have a solid/good QB in 2023.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2023
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  3. antny1

    antny1 GC Hall of Fame

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    Curious. If fickell is upgrading the offense why did Mertz leave? Not a fit? Not who fickell wanted? Time for a change?
     
  4. Donzo

    Donzo GC Hall of Fame

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    Mertz left before Fickell was hired and Fickell was gonna bring in other QBs that previously ran an air-raid type offense if Mertz came back or not, so Mertz didn't come back.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2023
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  5. antny1

    antny1 GC Hall of Fame

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    Yeah maybe I'm just desperately optimistic but I'm not panicking over the prospects of Mertz or Miller being our qb because I feel like they are both relatively unknowns at UF.

    My main issue with QB to this point is Napier's effusive praise of Richardson after the Utah game. I'd rather a coach temper his praise of a QB that apparently had so many fundamental issues with accuracy and leadership. Was he unaware of his shortcomings, enamored by his potential or was he just over enthusiastic in trying to support his QB knowing he needed encouragement? It just rubbed me wrong given the next two weeks against Kentucky and USF.
     
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  6. scooterp

    scooterp GC Hall of Fame

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    I tend to think Nape did it out of necessity. While uber talented, AR seemed mentally & emotionally fragile and needed the affirmation. He knew he was our best and only real option to win games. But doubt he was upset with the news of him leaving.
     
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  7. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Let’s be honest. Who among us was not at least slightly ecstatic after the Utah win ?
     
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  8. Donzo

    Donzo GC Hall of Fame

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    One other point I wanted to make is how positive the change of scenery for Mertz will be is that it already kinda happed at UW in the Bowl game.

    Like UF, UW was almost out of QBs for the Bowl game with attrition for various reasons. UW had to play a career Sr. backup named Chase Wolf. Maybe the worst scholarship QB I've ever seen. I wont go into details other than he was just awful in every facet of his career at UW.

    So, UW is out of QBs and Mr. Wolf will be UWs QB in the Bowl game. What happens here is that Fickell isn't waiting until 2023 and will actually be part of the coaching staff for the Bowl game. The interim staff is in charge but Fickell will contribute to the offense. He just simply added some misdirection and short quick passes to the playbook and all of a sudden Mr. Chase Wolf looked like a real college QB in the first half of the Bowl game. It was eye opening.

    So, I'm very optimistic what the change will do for Mertz.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2023
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  9. Ofg8r

    Ofg8r GC Legend

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    I wish CBN would just read GC so he would know how to recruit and how to manage games.
    Has anyone told him?
     
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  10. Skink

    Skink GC Hall of Fame

    AR was a 1st game stud against Utah
     
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  11. antny1

    antny1 GC Hall of Fame

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    He was. My point is that surely AR showed issues in practice with short and intermediate routes as well as confidence following mistakes. I get his comment was hyperbole and praise after a big win but saying my wife could calls plays with that guy at quarterback just left me with questions following the next two performances. Was he that off on his assessment or was he just trying to build his confidence is all I'm asking.
     
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  12. WindoverG8tr

    WindoverG8tr GC Hall of Fame

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    Agree, Shane Matthews saw all the faults and wasn't real shy about talking them publicly. I think Napier was trying to help a QB who has some confidence issues or mental toughness issues to improve on. I wish AR the best and hope he lands in a good spot for him but....NFL is BUSINESS and not a place for emotionally soft QB's imo.
     
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  13. doctorg8r

    doctorg8r GC Legend

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    Actually, your assessment agrees with these guys: David Waters, Will Miles, and Seth Varnadore, on Gator Breakdown. I posted this on another thread, so if you have already read this, I apologize.

    "Wisconsin was not the right system for Mertz. Run two downs, pass on third down. Wisconsin ran 75% on first down, 60% run on second down, and 66% passing on third down. Thus, Wisconsin had a very predictable offense. Graham Mertz was put in an awful position, and he had no receiver help. Wide receiver's and tightend were not good. Only 29% of passes for Mertz were on first down, whereas the average national percentage was 42% on first down. How much was bad playcalling, and how much was on Mertz? Hard to really say. Threw off platform too much. That's the big new thing: throwing off platform; but, very few quarterbacks can do that.

    Can he become consistent? That's the big question. The OL is being remade at UF. Mertz is not a quarterback to bail out an OL. Will the new OL cause Mertz to throw off platform and throw turnovers?
    Doesn't make progressions to make the easy throws. Sounds like AR in that regards. So, in Mertz their getting the equivalent of AR who cannot run.

    Richardson, nationally, had one of the highest amount of time to make throws. AR threw into tight windows, stared down the first read, and did not find one on one battles. Mertz has the exact same complaint against him. So, it doesn't look like Mertz is an upside to AR, and UF needed to get a quarterback to take them to the next level. Yeah, and I just don't see that in Mertz.

    In defense of Mertz, most third down throws at Wisconsin were 15 yard comebacks. Wasn't there anything else they could call? Was that the reason he went through three OC's in three years? Or was that all he could handle?

    Mertz did not make the right read and check the ball down, and AR struggled with doing that in 2022. Can Mertz read and check better than AR in 2023? Up to now, he did not do that at Wisconsin. He should have figured out how to read and check down as a freshman. He has the talent, can he be consistent? Is Mertz another AR type (with the exception of being mobile) with low execution?

    What may make Mertz more effective at UF? More quick throws, more quick screens? More quick game stuff.
    How does Napier adjust the offense? He has had mobile quarterback's and Mertz is not. Mertz might get 4 or 5 yards on designed runs, but he is not going to run for 60.

    How much of a jump can he make? He has skills for winning. The question mark is consistency."

    These fellas felt Mertz needed to make a big jump from what he did at Wisconsin, because he's going to face better defenses in the SEC. The bottomline: there are too many questions and not enough answers. Will the OL be able to protect Mertz? Because, his mobility will not be able to escape pressure. This could be another rough year!
     
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  14. antny1

    antny1 GC Hall of Fame

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    They contradict themselves a bit even if they make some acknowledgments of the scheme issues. Mertz might have an issue with check downs if as they said the offense was predictable and after running on 1st and 2nd downs left him in 3rd and long often.

    Blaming 3 different offensive coordinators on the quarterback's ability seems like a reach at beat. They asked if that could be the case but I think it's silly to even ask that question.

    Not many qbs break off 60 yard runs and while they were exciting, I'd rather AR be more consistent taking the 3 and 5 yard runs and check downs than waiting for one big run every now and then.

    I'm not trying to come here and pump up Mertz as some guarantee but I'll defer to Donzo who at least followed Wisconsin and expressed some facts as to why a scheme change could help Mertz a bunch especially given his bowl game reference.
     
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  15. Donzo

    Donzo GC Hall of Fame

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    On Mertz and Miller, I feel much better about Mertz than Miller. We haven't seen much of Miller, but what we've seen from spring through the Bowl game is very unimpressive. I just don't see a college QB there. For experience I think Kitna is a good comp. We didn't see much, but what we saw from Kitna was solid. He looked like a college QB where once again Miller hasn't... Mertz is a a whole different animal. He has a ton of experience and has been successful.

    I think CBN was in a tough spot with AR. Obviously AR had a lot of throwing issues and CBN had to manage it. CBN is all about positivity and hashing out ARs issues in the media is something he wouldn't do... It was what it was. I think CBN did what he had to do.
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2023
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  16. Donzo

    Donzo GC Hall of Fame

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    Yes, I read that... They have a point but it's not accurate.

    First, the comments about the WR's and TEs are just wrong. UWs receivers suffered the same system issues that Mertz did. Jake Ferguson was an excellent TE and NFL draft pick- I think he had a good rookie season. At WR, Chimere Dike and Skyler Bell are good WRs. I like Dike better than Pearsall. You put those two WRs on TCU or USC, they put up big numbers.

    UWs problems on offense was much more nuanced than running and passing percentages. Over the last few years the system just became more and more basic and predictable. Like I said above it became vanilla without the vanilla flavor- it was ridiculous.

    For Mertz, he had to suffer through it but his inconstancies were part of the issues. It was really difficult for him to be consistent in that system. This is why I think he'll be better at UF.
     
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  17. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Mertz will surprise in ‘23.

    I can’t reveal my sources.
     
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  18. Wileegator

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    Lol that's because your source is your arse which none of us wants revealed. However, I'm on board with your sources assessment.
     
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  19. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

    Jan 5, 2022
    Or something like that.
     
  20. doctorg8r

    doctorg8r GC Legend

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    It seems to be more, we are hoping rather than we are certain.