It sounds like things are off to a hot start for Wisconsin freshman quarterback Graham Mertz, and head coach Paul Chryst is impressed.
Mertz has enrolled early and is undergoing his first spring of college football. During his first practice open to the media, he bombed a 50-yard touchdown. If that doesn’t make Wisconsin fans pumped, then I don’t know what will.
Jack Coan took all the first-team reps at QB today. Graham Mertz threw some nice passes, including a 50-yard TD in skeleton drills.
— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) April 2, 2019
According to 247Sports, Chryst told the media the following Tuesday:
It’s been great having Graham here. Obviously was impressed with him. And the more you get to know him the more you like him, and you’re impressed with him, the way he handles everything. He’s approaching it the right way. He’s put time in studying it and learning it and going out and he’s done some good and he’s not afraid to make a mistake. I think if you have that approach, then you can get better.
Now, it’s important to point out here that Chryst is waiting to name a starter and he might not in the spring. That’s just the way he’s running the show right now, but don’t think for a second Mertz plans on riding the bench. (RELATED: Should Graham Mertz Start At Quarterback For The Wisconsin Badgers In 2019?)
This is Big Ten football, and my Badgers are done playing games. The highly-touted freshman was brought to Madison to air it out and lead us to a national championship.
Guys like that don’t sit on the bench. They just don’t. I have nothing against Coan, but we’ve seen him play. He’s capable of beating a decent amount of teams, but I don’t think he’s a national championship-caliber gunslinger.
The season is only a few months out, we have to battle through spring all, have a strong summer and then we’re bound for big things. The mistakes of 2018 are behind us.
This is 2019 and my Badgers are coming in ready to roll.
Let’s get after! Big things await us, my friends. Big things!