2022 Badger Football Thread

Mertz is getting a bum deal for the record. Never had a QB coach, PC who claimed to be one was a washed-out QB himself turned TE( he sucked as a qb, I am old enough to remember that) So PC actually burned out 3 QB , 1 Coan who magically looked a lot better at ND with coaching.

If Mertz does the same after the transfer I think as Badger fans we will have our answer. tc(

Gods speed #5
 
Mark87 said:
Mertz is getting a bum deal for the record. Never had a QB coach, PC who claimed to be one was a washed-out QB himself turned TE( he sucked as a qb, I am old enough to remember that) So PC actually burned out 3 QB , 1 Coan who magically looked a lot better at ND with coaching.

If Mertz does the same after the transfer I think as Badger fans we will have our answer. tc(

Gods speed #5
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I don't blame Mertz for leaving. He's going to do fine elsewhere. He needs to get fresh eyes on him, to help him regain the mechanics he had, when he first got to Madison.

They'll get the guy they need for the short term in the portal, and possibly/probably someone who will de-commit elsewhere, and join the Badgers. I have confidence.

Next year may be a bit bumpy, but I think they'll be fine. I see some good leadership on the sideline and in the booth.
 
I'll agree with Mark. Mertz never got the coaching up that he should have. Somehow, I think we all thought that Mertz - and for that matter, all Bucky quarterbacks were getting coached up better, but apparently they weren't.

I have been amazed that Mertz never made the steps forward that we expected. If you look at quarterback progressions from Wisconsin it kind of makes sense now. None of our quarterbacks have ever made the big step forward.

I've thought for a while that both needed a new start. I'm wish them both the best. I won't be surprised to see Mertz prosper. I think Wisconsin will prosper.
 
I think Mertz will excel in a more spread out system. He was asked to make NFL throws in PC's offense and, while he had every tool to do so, he was just inconsistent and not playing loose. Feels like he forced the ball where the play was designed to go rather than reading progressions. You can't do that in a pro-style offense. If making predetermined reads, the system has to be conducive to it. Guys need to be schemed open and that's not something that PC was ever able to do. I used to track, on another forum, the numbers of all QBs under Paul Chryst, as HC, and the numbers weren't pretty. So, I do fully believe it was a Paul Chryst problem and not a Graham Mertz one. He's inconsistent, sure, but Paul did him no favors nor did his WRs/TEs.
 
I'm also not saying that there were plays that Mertz didn't make the reads, and made them wrong, or that every single play was "throw it here" from the onset. I'm more or less attempting to say that Chryst never even slightly attempted to make things easier on Mertz with play designs and what not. If you're going to run the offense that we ran, development is key and I think it's pretty clear that the entire program, on the offensive side, stagnated under Chryst at a certain point.

I don't think people, outsiders mainly who questioned the firing, realize how many warts Jonathan Taylor covered up with this offensive structure in recent years. 2018-2022 Paul Chryst wasn't the same as 2015-2017 PC.
 
Wisconsin's 2023 recruiting class is now down to eight commitments. The Badgers and Ironton (Ohio.) running back Jaquez Keyes have had a mutual parting following the hiring of head coach Luke Fickell and various other staff members who will follow Fickell to Madison from Cincinnati.

Keyes committed to UW in June and held other scholarship offers from Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. He took his official visit to Madison the weekend of June 10, the only official used during his recruitment
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Hopefully he can find some kids to flip Otherwise 2023 might be one of the worst classes ever for Bucky
 
I'm not going to get concerned over the loss of some recruits. It had to be expected, and quite honestly, as bad as some of their choices have been over the last two to three years, it might well be for the best.

I have faith in Fickell and his staff being able to find players who fit into their plans. Who knows? Most of them could be upgrades over the kids that were already recruited and jump ship.

I already see the potential of an 8 to 9 win season next year, if they get a QB in house who can throw the ball just enough to keep the defenses honest.
 
Big thing is if they don't improve this 2023 class it hurts 3-4 years down the road when you take a hit at starters/depth when you only have 8 kids and none of them are highly rated. Best one is 551st in the nation. Badgers right now are 87th in nation and dead last in Big Ten for their 2023 class.
 
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