Graham Mertz reveals how his first spring at Florida compared to his expectations
Graham Mertz revealed how his spring practice period went with the Florida Gators compared to expectations after he transferred in from Wisconsin.
Mertz had an up and down career with the Badgers but is in competition for the starting quarterback job under Billy Napier. Along with Jack Miller, the top two quarterbacks in Gainesville have a lot to sort out.
But that didn’t stop Mertz’s appreciation for his new situation.
“Yeah, I mean, first off, I just gotta say, I’m blessed to be here,” Mertz said. “Like I said earlier in spring, I mean, I wake up every day just grateful to see the sun every day, which is stupid. But when you’re in Wisconsin for a while, you realize what the sun is. So I mean, I really enjoyed the spring. I think that personally, I grew as a player. And as a young man. It’s been a great spring. I mean, put in a lot of work here. It’s only just a start for it. So I mean, we’re gonna have a lot of work to do, but I’m excited for it.”
Mertz and Miller have to battle it out to replace outgoing quarterback Anthony Richardson, who left Florida for the NFL Draft.
“I think tonight I was probably a little bit frustrated with how the players around them were playing, to some degree,” head coach Billy Napier said. “I think just in terms of the cleanness of the game, you know, but overall, there’s no — I mean, just the experience for both kids, right? Interacting with both sidelines, both offensive units, being in that setting, responding to the good and the bad. I mean, there was a ton of adversity out there tonight and that gives each guy some experience in that regard.”
The spring game was difficult at times for the Florida offenses. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin even took to Twitter, where he trolled the Gators. On top of that, Napier admitted that he expects to add another quarterback in the transfer portal.
“So, you’d like to be a little bit cleaner but they managed the game as best they could,” Napier said. “Now, I don’t know that we threw it to the other team, tonight, did we? I think we had one turnover, a couple turnovers on downs. So, overall, could have been better on the offense tonight, and quarterback play, I say this to you all the time, sometimes they get too much credit, sometimes it gets too much blame.
“Ultimately, for a quarterback to play well, the players around them have got to play well. So, we’ll watch the tape. I’ll be able to give you more feedback next opportunity we get together.”