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Wisconsin Football: Looking ahead to the 2019 roster

By Tanner Nestle

IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 22: Quarterback Alex Hornibrook #12 of the Wisconsin Badgers scrambles on a keeper in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes on September 22, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 22: Quarterback Alex Hornibrook #12 of the Wisconsin Badgers scrambles on a keeper in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes on September 22, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin football - Alex Hornibrook
ANN ARBOR, MI – OCTOBER 13: Alex Hornibrook #12 of the Wisconsin Badgers throws a pass during warmups prior to playing the Michigan Wolverines on October 13, 2018 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Quarterback

The quarterback position is an interesting one. Wisconsin had a quarterback in Alex Hornibrook that wasn’t great but expected to be better in 2018. Spoiler alert, he wasn’t. Question marks surrounded the team and coaching staff because of it. Jack Coan attempted to come to the rescue and he did against Purdue. Throw into the mix a promising 4-star recruit set to join the team next year and you have a plot line with more possible outcomes than the upcoming Game of Thrones season.

Alex Hornibrook

Hornibrook entered the season as the unquestioned leader of the offense. Some rough games, highlighted by the performance against Michigan, led to all kinds of difficult questions. Then came an unfortunate head injury that forced Paul Chryst to go to backup Jack Coan. Hornibrook went from the scapegoat of the team to somebody fans wished could return as soon as possible. When he finally did against Minnesota it was nowhere close to what anybody had hoped for.

Hornibrook will be a senior next year and probably start week one. But there’s a lot of time between now and then for things to change. Some interesting characters could shake things up as well.

Jack Coan

Coan stepped in for Hornibrook on multiple occasions with minimal success. The game against Purdue was a thriller going to triple overtime but Jonathan Taylor mostly led the way with over 300 rushing yards. Coan has shown signs of being a good quarterback. He should compete for the starting job next season but I doubt Chryst goes away from his fifth-year senior.

Graham Mertz

Mertz is the wild card in all of this. He plays in a pass-heavy system in high school and will have a lot of things to learn. He’s enrolling early at Wisconsin so he can go through spring camp with the team. It’s very unlikely he’ll be competing for the starting job at all in 2019 but the new redshirt rule should see him getting some snaps along the way.

Time will tell how good Mertz really is. Fans are anxiously awaiting his arrival to campus.