Tag: Graham Mertz

Wisconsin Spring Position Preview: Quarterbacks

Examing the spring quarterback roster. Jack Coan QB, Graham Mertz QB, Chase Wolf QB, Danny Vanden Boom QB

Spring football allows for head coach Paul Chryst to not have to worry about preparing for a game. Instead, it allows him to teach the game of football and continue to develop the players on Wisconsin’s roster as they prepare for the 2020 season. Chryst will have 15 practices beginning March 10th to help make sure his team is improving and building off of what they accomplished during the 2019 season.

In this Badgers Wire feature, we will break down the quarterback position for Wisconsin as they head into spring practice.

Spring Quarterback Roster

Jack Coan, Graham Mertz, Chase Wolf, Danny Vanden Boom

What we know going into spring practice

At this time a season ago, there was the question of who would be the starter for Wisconsin when they opened the season against South Florida. As spring practice would serve as the first opportunity of the four quarterbacks on the roster to try and compete for reps with the first-team offense.

Ultimately Jack Coan won the starting position as Chase Wolf and Graham Mertz served as co-backups throughout last season as they appeared in three and two games respectively a season ago.

Coan’s play over the course of the 2019 season should solidify himself as the starter again as he goes into his senior season. Coan will receive the bulk of the first-team reps as it will be important for him to grow from what he accomplished as a junior.

In particular, for Coan, one of the main focuses will be working on the deep ball. Although Coan brought stability to the quarterback position a season ago the Badgers struggled to consistently stretch the field.

Spring football will be the perfect time for Coan to try and improve in this area as he’ll be able to test out his arm strength and be able to experiment with his deep throws.

What we hope to find out following spring practice

Wisconsin’s quarterback room was the strongest it has been in some time as it will be interesting to see how much improvement has been made from all four quarterbacks since the end of last spring.

Coan will get a good deal of reps over spring practice but Wolf and Mertz will also receive reps with the first team too.

Wolf and Mertz both have strong arms as it will be a chance for them to continue to work on their mechanics and continue to progress at the quarterback position.

Mertz came in with a lot of hype last season and not surprising he was up and down at the quarterback position over his first spring practice. With him being on campus for a year now the inconsistency he may have demonstrated should be improved as nothing should be new to him anymore. He should be more comfortable with the playbook and with his dropbacks as he goes through his reads.

Wolf like Mertz needs to become more consistent but with him also going through his second spring practice he should be able to take the next step in his development.

One area where Wolf has been held back is his decision making. At times he hasn’t placed the football where only his intended target can get it. In order for Wolf to push to be Coan’s top backup, he needs to improve his decision making so he doesn’t hurt Wisconsin’s offense.

Spring football will allow him to test out certain throws from different angles, which he has shown he’s capable of doing but he also needs to learn quickly which throws work for him and which ones he shouldn’t attempt.

Each quarterback on Wisconsin’s spring roster will continue to push one another in order to get better each day. Although all four are fighting for playing time they know spring practice is a time for all of them to improve as quarterbacks. Making it important they make each rep they receive count.

 

Projecting Wisconsin’s Spring Offensive Depth Chart

Who is projected to start on offense when the Badgers open spring camp.

Wisconsin’s offense in 2020 will certainly have a different feel to it considering the Badgers lost three key players on the offensive side of the football in running back Jonathan Taylor, wide receiver Quintez Cephus, and center Tyler Biadasz as all three declared early for the NFL Draft. Despite the departures from those three players, the Badgers do return six offensive starters from 2019.

In this Badgers Wire feature, we project what the spring depth chart on offense will look like when the Badgers open up spring practice.

Projected Spring Depth Chart Quarterback: 1. Jack Coan, 2. Graham Mertz, 3. Chase Wolf, 4. Danny Vanden Boom

Jack Coan will open spring football as the projected starter for Wisconsin and until he gives Paul Chryst a reason why he shouldn’t be starting for Wisconsin he’ll remain atop the depth chart throughout spring and when fall camp opens. Graham Mertz is certainly talented enough to challenge Coan for the starting position but the key for Mertz is building off of his first year at Wisconsin and consistently stringing together successful practices. This will be Mertz’s second spring football. Chase Wolf will be competing to be the top backup. Mertz and Wolf were listed as co-backups to Coan last season but if Coan would have had to leave the game due to an injury it would have been Mertz to fill in the place of Coan. Making it an important spring for Wolf to continue to improve upon his quarterback mechanics. Danny Vanden Boom played in three games as a redshirt freshman in 2018 but didn’t appear in a game last season.

Projected Spring Depth Chart Running Back: 1. Garrett Groshek, 2. Nakia Watson, 3. Isaac Guerendo, 4. Brady Schipper, 5. Julius Davis

Highly touted and consensus four-star running back Jalen Berger won’t arrive until this summer. In the meantime, it will be up to Garrett Groshek and Nakia Watson to show they’re capable of filling the giant shoes that are being left behind in two-time Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor. Watson (74-331-2) finished the season with more carries and more rushing yards than Groshek (42-194-2). But Watson over Wisconsin’s last two games didn’t register a carry as he’ll need to show he can take on a larger role in the offense during spring practice. Groshek is trusted by the coaches as he’s the most experienced running back returning as he has shown his capability as a receiver but also holding up in pass blocking too. How Guerendo, Schipper, and Davis figure into the running back picture in 2020 will still be determined but how they play over spring football will go a long way in terms of how many reps they receive once fall camp begins.

Projected Spring Depth Chart Fullback: 1. Mason Stokke, 2. John Chenal, 3. Quan Easterling

Mason Stokke and John Chenal split reps at fullback in 2019 and that should continue unless Stokke or Chenal take complete command over the role as starting fullback. Both had their moments in 2019 where they succeeded but Stokke’s best statistical game came against Minnesota when he registered 14 yards rushing on two carries and had three catches for 30 yards. Quan Easterling redshirted in 2019 but did appear in one game against Illinois due to Stokke missing the game because of an injury.

Projected Spring Depth Chart Wide Receiver: 1. Kendric Pryor, 2. Danny Davis, 3. Jack Dunn, 4. Adam Krumholz, 5. A.J. Abbott, 6. Stephan Bracey

Wisconsin’s depth chart at the wide receiver position figured it would have Cephus and Aron Cruickshank but with Cephus entering the draft and Cruickshank transferring to Rutgers the depth at wide receiver took a hit. But the Badgers still have enough depth to absorb those losses. It helps that Wisconsin returns Kendric Pryor and Danny Davis. Between the two Davis finished with more receptions than Pryor (30-to-23) but Pryor finished with 278 receiving yards to Davis’ 250. Both of their roles should expand entering the 2020 season and with more opportunities, the duo should be able to respond. Behind Davis and Pryor will be Jack Dunn and Adam Krumholz. Two of Wisconsin’s better run blockers at the wide receiver position. Abbott appeared in seven games a year ago mostly on special teams or in mop-up duty while Bracey redshirted but he did travel with the team for road games at times.

Projected Spring Depth Chart Tight End: 1. Jake Ferguson, 2. Cormac Sampson, 3. Jack Eschenbach 

Ferguson will return as the Badgers top tight end as he has improved over the past two years and that should continue for Ferguson as his 33 receptions for 407 yards ranked second in both categories. Sampson took on a larger role than previously expected for Wisconsin in 2019 as he served as Wisconsin’s blocking tight end and had success as he’ll be projected to fill that role again in 2020. Eschenbach a walk-on is a player the coaches are high on but he’ll need to continue to put it all together. A pair of redshirt freshman Hayden Rucci and Clay Cundiff will compete for a spot on the depth chart as the duo have important springs ahead of them as they continue to grow into the tight end position.

Projected Spring Depth Chart Offensive Line: LT Cole Van Lanen, LG Josh Seltzner, C Kayden Lyles, RG Logan Bruss, RT Tyler Beach

Wisconsin lost three starters from its 2019 offensive line all coming on the interior in guards David Moorman and Jason Erdman and center Tyler Biadasz. Who ultimately starts along the offensive line when the Badgers open up the season against Indiana won’t be determined until fall camp. As spring will serve as an opportunity for offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Joe Rudolph to use a variety of different combinations along the offensive line. But what is listed above seems to make the most sense with what Rudolph will roll out to start with and go from there when he tries out different line combinations. Lyles and Seltzner both started four games a season ago at left and right guard respectively. Lyles is capable of sliding over to center and with Bruss being capable of sliding over to guard will allow for Tyler Beach to start at right tackle.

Wisconsin Football Season Review: Quarterback

How did Wisconsin’s quarterback do during the 2019 college football season? Jack Coan QB, Graham Mertz QB, Chase Wolf QB

Wisconsin finished its fifth season under head coach Paul Chryst as Chryst improved his overall record to 52-16 and has a posted a 34-10 record in conference games. After not winning the Big Ten West Division title in 2018 the Badgers were back in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game as the West representative for the fourth time in the last six years since the Big Ten went to its current format.

In this Badgers Wire feature we will examine the play of Wisconsin’s quarterback from the 2019 season and take a sneak into what the 2020 season may have in store for the position:

Entering the season there was much speculation about highly touted true freshman quarterback Graham Mertz and how much he would play and if he would eventually overtake Jack Coan as the starter.

Mertz ended up only appearing in two games as he went 9-for-10 on his throws resulting in 73 yards.

With Coan starting all 14 games for Wisconsin and helping guide the Badgers to a 10-4 record he’ll enter the 2020 season once again as the likely favorite to start.

In particular, Coan over his last six games of the year played some really good football as over that stretch he went 99-for-155 (63.8 percent) on his passing for 1,236 yards, and eight touchdowns to three interceptions.

Coan was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country as he posted an efficiency rating of 151.8, which ranked 19th nationally as only Ohio State’s Justin Fields (181.4) and Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan (178.7) ranked higher than Coan from the Big Ten.

Coan finished the season with five interceptions but in three consecutive weeks against Illinois, Ohio State, and Iowa he was responsible for a turnover.

Coan’s efficiency on offense helped lead Wisconsin to average 34.1 points per game their highest scoring average since 2014 (34.6 points per game) and Wisconsin’s offense averaged 433.2 yards of total offense.

In particular, with the strength of Wisconsin’s run game and with opponents consistently loading the box it forced Coan to beat teams with his arm in order to help take the pressure off of the run game.

Coan toward the end of the season showed he was capable of making passes at all three levels. Coan will need to continue to work on this area though as he goes into his senior season particularly with his deeper throws.

Redshirt freshman Chase Wolf was the only other quarterback to see the field as he appeared in three games completing his only pass for two yards.

2020 Wisconsin Quarterbacks

Coan’s play over the season likely didn’t warrant another quarterback competition as he averaged 194.7 yards passing, had 18 touchdown passes, and also ran for four touchdowns. Mertz certainly has the talent to be Wisconsin’s starter and with him having a year under his belt should allow him to be more comfortable in Wisconsin’s system and possibly challenge for the starting position.