Badger of Honor
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Wisconsin Football: Five positives to take away from the season

By Tanner Nestle

ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 13: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers tries to outrun the tackle of Devin Bush #10 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half on October 13, 2018 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 38-13. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 13: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers tries to outrun the tackle of Devin Bush #10 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half on October 13, 2018 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 38-13. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin Football Jack Coan
STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 10: Jack Coan #17 of the Wisconsin Badgers looks to pass against the Wisconsin Badgers during the second half at Beaver Stadium on November 10, 2018 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Badger fans got to see what was behind Alex Hornibrook

The poor start to the season and up-and-down play from Alex Hornibrook had fans clamoring for Jack Coan to get some playing time. Talk about why Coan wasn’t playing were all over the place. People were defending Hornibrook, and others said if Coan wasn’t starting over Hornibrook it was because he wasn’t better, and therefore Chryst shouldn’t make the switch.

Well, we got to see Coan. And it wasn’t great. So check that off the list of question marks heading into next season. The quarterback position just isn’t very good at the moment. It seems as if the only hope is incoming true freshman Graham Mertz. This point is just another on the side of giving him the chance to compete and start for the team next season.

The Badgers have given Hornibrook and Coan every chance to prove they could start for this team. Hornibrook has had many more chances than Coan. It’s very hard for me to believe that he’s the best the Badgers could trot out there. Perhaps Coan could be molded into a better quarterback if given more time to work as the starter, but that isn’t where I would focus my attention if I were the Wisconsin coaching staff.

Mertz has the tools, the attitude, and the outright talent to truly compete for the starting job, based on what we’ve seen of Mertz and what we’ve seen of Hornibrook and Coan. Another thing a lot of fans said about Coan was, ‘How could he possibly be worse than Hornibrook?’ Well, those fans ended up eating those words. But that won’t stop them, or me, from saying the same about Mertz.

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Mertz can’t possibly be as bad as the rest of the quarterbacks on the roster. And we know this because we finally got to see them. It’s up to the staff to do the right thing with that knowledge.