Badger of Honor
Fansided

Wisconsin Football: Quarterback positional preview

By Christian Borman

Dec 12, 2020; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz (5) prepares to throw a pass against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2020; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz (5) prepares to throw a pass against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

We are just over three months away from the start of the Wisconsin football regular season and even closer to the Badgers opening preseason camp in the late summer. That may seem like a long time, but we all know summer days fly by and the fall will be here before we know it, and that means Wisconsin football too.

So let’s start taking a look at the roster and potential depth charts of each position before the Badgers open camp so we can all familiarize ourselves with the players at each position.

Let’s start with the quarterbacks.

Projected depth chart

  1. Graham Mertz – So.
  2. Chase Wolf – Jr.
  3. Danny Vanden Boom – Sr.
  4. Deacon Hill – Fr.; Daniel Wright – RS Fr.

This is probably going to be the easiest depth chart to project. Graham Mertz might as well be set in stone. He was forced into the spotlight last season after presumed start Jack Coan suffered a broken foot in practice, ending his season before it really began.

When Mertz was out of the game, Chase Wolf was the next man up, and I don’t see that changing this season. Wolf showed last season he could make some things happen with his feet but struggled to throw the ball a bit.

Behind Mertz and Wolf is likely the senior, Danny Vanden Boom. Vanden Boom came to Wisconsin as a walk-on in the 2017 class. He didn’t appear in a game in 2020.

Daniel Wright and Deacon Hill round out the rest of the depth chart. Deacon Hill is an incoming freshman from Santa Barbara. Many think he will be the eventual replacement for Mertz when he leaves. This will be a good opportunity for Hill to get to campus, learn the playbook, and start adjusting to the speed of college football.

What can we expect from Mertz this year?

Mertz went off in his first career start against Illinois, completing 20-of-21 passes (95.2%) of his passes and throwing for 248 yards and five touchdowns. The Wisconsin football team trounced the Illini, 45-7.

After that game, he cooled off a lot. He ended up testing positive for covid-19 while dealing with some nagging injuries throughout the rest of the season. Losing your top two receivers in Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor doesn’t help either. He finished the rest of the season with 1,238 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and five interceptions.

This season, with a full preseason camp as QB1 and a more consistent schedule, I think we will really get to see what Mertz can do. The Badgers played three games in the first six weeks of the season because of positive covid tests, forcing the games to be rescheduled or just canceled.

Mertz will also be getting receivers Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor, and tight end Jake Ferguson returning this year. His offense live should be as steady as ever, despite losing starting left tackle Cole Van Lanen and guard Jon Dietzen.

Not to make more excuses for Mertz, but he will also have Paul Chryst calling the offensive plays this season. Last year, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph was the play-caller, so Chryst could focus on managing the team with all of the covid procedures in place. Chryst has been a great play-caller for Wisconsin football program going back to when he was the offensive coordinator for Bret Bielema. I think he will be able to come up with a game plan that will suit Mertz and put him in the best position to succeed.