Graham Mertz named the starting quarterback for the Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators have a new starting quarterback. Following Thursday’s scrimmage, Billy Napier named redshirt junior Graham Mertz the starting quarterback for the 2023 season.

Mertz enrolled at the University of Florida prior to spring practice after spending four years at Wisconsin.

Mertz started 32 games for the Badgers and totaled 2,075 career snaps. He finished the 2022 regular season with a career-high 2,136 passing yards and a 57 percent completion rate (164 of 286). After throwing 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2021, Mertz improved his touchdown-interception ratio in 2022 with 19 TDs against 10 INTs.

In his career at Wisconsin, Mertz completed 460-of-773 passes for 5,405 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 26 interceptions. Mertz holds a passer rating of 127.7. He has recorded eight rushing touchdowns as well.

Mertz won the job over redshirt sophomore Jack Miller and redshirt freshman Max Brown.

Mertz won over the locker room

The Wisconsin transfer won over Billy Napier before he even committed. Napier has stated numerous times that the staff looked at more than 20 quarterbacks in the transfer portal. Mertz enrolled prior to spring camp and went to work. The hours he put in and how he performed on the field earned him respect from his teammates.

“Just the experience and how mature of a guy he is. One thing that immediately stood out to me is how smart he is, his IQ on the field,” receiver Ricky Pearsall said of Mertz. “As soon as I met him we started talking about different coverages, different routes during different coverages. That stood out to me.”

Once Mertz proved himself on the field, he started to take on a leadership role off the field.

“Graham has been doing a good job leading us,” cornerback Jaydon Hill said. “Graham is actually on my off-season team, and he’s been doing a good job just making sure everybody is where they’re supposed to be, doing what they’re supposed to do. And then just for the team, Graham has gotten up and he’s spoken to us as far as just being a leader. And everybody, they listen. Graham has a lot of respect from us as players.”

Mertz and the Gators will open the 2023 football season on August 31 at Utah.

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