Billy Napier Impressed by Florida QB Graham Mertz's 'Professional Approach'
Photo: Graham Mertz; Credit: Zach Goodall
Florida offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Rob Sale explained on Tuesday that, in the early stages of spring camp, the Gators' quarterbacks have had their reps split up and spread out.
Certain passers will see their workload increase as practices stack up, an indication that they've separated themselves from their competition.
The outside expectation is that Graham Mertz — who transferred to Florida in December after four seasons at Wisconsin, spending three as the Badgers' starting signal-caller — will distinguish himself as the Gators' QB1 within the timeline Sale pointed to.
UF head coach Billy Napier lent credence to the theory on Saturday following Florida's fourth practice of the spring, not suggesting Mertz has any sort of upper hand on passers Jack Miller III or Max Brown quite yet but making his admiration for the experienced quarterback's work ethic clear.
"Graham continues to make a great impression, on all parts of the organization, and then certainly I think on his teammates as well," Napier said on Saturday. "He’s been very diligent from the first day, really aggressive. Oftentimes doing two-a-days, in the building the majority of the day, just really a professional approach, very self-aware."
Mertz's tenure as a Power 5 starter stood out to Napier and his coaching staff as the Gators scanned the transfer portal for quarterbacks, following Anthony Richardson's declaration for the NFL Draft and just prior to class of 2023 signee Jaden Rashada's falling out with UF over the crumbling of a third-party Name, Image and Likeness deal.
And while Mertz's run with the Badgers left something to be desired — he completed 59.1% of his passes for 5,332 passing yards and 38 touchdowns with 26 interceptions en route to a 19-13 record as a starter — no quarterback on the Gators' roster comes close to matching the number of snaps Mertz has taken in his college career.
His savvy is valuable from Napier's perspective.
"There’s some experience there. I think the guy is a really good communicator and he’s got a great grasp of what’s happening out there," Napier explained. "Very evident with the guys, he started 32 games with a really good program."
Sale has been similarly impressed by Mertz's quick comprehension of Florida's offense, acknowledging that he's up-to-speed already.
"That kid is smart," Sale said. "I don't know about catch-up would be the word anymore with how smart he is. Very, very impressed. He's going to make the guys in that room around him about how he approaches his work and how he comes in here, how he uses this [Gator Room] video board.
"He'll make the guys around him in that room better just by the way he prepares, because they're gonna go, 'Woah.' "
Mertz has been praised consistently throughout his career for the way he prepares and conducts himself as a quarterback, and those characteristics are viewed as essential at the position.
His shortcomings at Wisconsin were often considered physical in nature, and he also struggled to throw effectively under pressure with a career completion percentage of 42.6% in those situations, per Pro Football Focus. In fairness to Mertz, Wisconsin's offensive line allowed more pressure than the year before in each of his starting seasons, from on 18.6% of his dropbacks in 2020 to 29.9% in 2021 to 31.4% in 2022.
Florida hopes a change of scenery — while the lineup will be vastly different, Sale and fellow offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton's offensive line gave up just 13 sacks during the 2022 regular season — can help Mertz reach the physical potential Napier believes he possesses.
“First of all, he’s got stature. He’s close to 6-[foot]-3, weighs about 220 pounds and is a guy that’s got arm talent, and I thought in particular, he’s gotten a little bit better each day," Napier analyzed. "You guys are out there a little bit but I thought [on] day three in particular the ball really jumped out of his hand, and I thought he had a nice day [Saturday] ...
"New group of skill players, really they work in the winter but I think that this is really spring training and they have a chance to get some chemistry with the skill players so it’s good to see that he’s making progress. I thought he took another step forward today.”
The quarterback competition in Gainesville isn't likely to officially be called for the foreseeable future, but the signs point toward Mertz having a leg up on his competition at this time thanks to his experience and approach to the game.
"Excited about Graham," Napier said, "and what he’s done so far and what he’s capable of doing in the future.”
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