Graham Mertz Has 'True Confidence' Within Billy Napier's Gators Offense
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Photo: Graham Mertz; Credit: Zach Goodall
The 2022 campaign ended disappointingly for the Gators as a three-game losing streak to close the year resulted in their second-straight sub-.500 season.
The departure of quarterback Anthony Richardson to the NFL after, solely, said season in the starting role commenced an extensive search for his replacement via the transfer portal.
In that search, Florida head coach, offensive play-caller and quarterbacks coach all-in-one Billy Napier led the quest for a veteran leader to take over the reins of his offense in year two.
He landed on Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz, whose journey to Gainesville marks a fresh start after his time up north grew stale. The Gators brought him in for a visit just six days after he entered the transfer portal. Mertz reciprocated the interest, committing to UF on Dec. 21 to mark the start of his new journey.
The rising fifth-year quarterback understands what Napier expects from him as the head signal caller in his offense, and he aspires to capitalize on the new beginning in a system that is better conducive to his success.
"I love it, man. I love it," Mertz said frankly about the offense during media availability on Saturday. "You come down here and there's no gray [area]. There's a plan for everything. You stick to the plan, you follow your rules and you do it.
"It's freed me up to really just make everybody better, make the team better. Really spread the field out. I mean in this offense, [Napier] sets it up to where you always have an answer, and that's one thing that as a quarterback, and you know you always have that answer, I mean that gives you true confidence."
Operating with the Gators is foreign relative to his time at Wisconsin, mainly due to what Mertz equates as stylistic differences between the two conferences.
In the Big 10, he dealt with the hard-nosed, physical identities teams have looked to build upfront on both sides of the ball. It's worked for Michigan, who's appeared in the College Football Playoff Semifinals two seasons in a row.
Conversely, the SEC is "a fun game," he says, as the conference prides itself on speed in all facets. His understanding of both styles is an advantage he'll hope to capitalize on this season as he takes the knowledge accumulated during his time in Madison (Wisc.) to the field in Gainesville.
"I can take that stuff I learned from Wisconsin, apply it down here," he said. "And obviously, I've learned so much in the past two months and change, so it's been great."
However, formerly working in a spread offense in high school — where the Kansas native threw upwards of 60 times per contest and excelled to earn high recognition for his contributions on the gridiron — Mertz feels he aligns more with the system the Gators run compared to that of the Badgers.
Napier's power-spread attack differs from the traditional pro-style offense he operated during his time at Wisconsin under Paul Chryst.
There, he took the majority of his snaps from under center and was asked to shoulder a significant burden in pre-and post-snap progressions dating back to his first start in 2020.
Despite an impressive start to his career as a starter, tossing five touchdowns in his debut against Illinois, he struggled to remain consistent. He finished his Badgers career with a 1.4-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and struggled to find consistency across 32 starts.
He now makes his way to Florida, where he'll have to overcome hurdles of his past to help bring success back to a program yearning for hope after several down seasons in a row.
The expectations for his performance are rightfully scattered, and there is uncertainty surrounding his aptitude to occupy the spot.
However, his goal with the Gators is to reconcile those prior mistakes that resulted in his exit from the program he committed to out of high school. Napier's tutelage is preparing him for that jump.
"Just playing good football," he said when asked about the message for his needed improvement. "Eliminate turnovers. Really, just the biggest thing was knowing your rules and working through them. His offense is so well put together that like he's seen it all, basically. And he always has an answer. I mean, he's a freaking technician when it comes to that.
"For us, it's really just sticking to the script, knowing your rules, knowing your checks and he's putting a little more checks on our plate, which is I love that because that's the system I came from. Having 2-3 play calls in one and then your checking, killing. So, it's a really good offense."
After seeing how the offense tailored to Richardson's strengths in 2022, it's safe to say Napier will mold the attack around Mertz, at least early on to re-establish comfortability and confidence in himself after a rocky past two and a half seasons.
He performed at his peak at Wisconsin when working out of the shotgun in play-action, presented with ample time to read defenses and step into throws without the threat of pressure in his face.
From 2021-22, he completed 65.6 of his 119 play-action passing attempts for 1,227 yards (10.3 yards per attempt) for seven touchdowns and one interception, per Pro Football Focus. His completion percentage was 9.4 points higher on average on play-action concepts than his traditional dropbacks.
That accuracy is indicative of the player he believes he can be moving forward.
"I think that, personally, a strength is accuracy," he said. "That's one thing that I'll hang my hat on, and one thing that you always, when you're out there, something that you bring with you every day."
The two-headed monster in the backfield — consisting of running backs Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne — should aid the new signal caller to open holes in the passing game, especially when the handoff fakes come following the early establishment of the duo in games.
On the passing front itself, Mertz showcased a knack for targeting the middle of the field, namely the seams, with tight end Jake Ferguson in his first two seasons. His touch and accuracy in targeting that area, particularly in the red zone, stands out as a strength.
That gives the Gators a formula to incorporate short-to-intermediate route concepts across the middle for him to exploit throughout the year.
It can come in a variety of ways, with seams to a dependable pass-catching tight end — although one has yet to emerge at this point, drags from the boundary wideouts and on slot slants to the Gators' top receiver from 2022. Ricky Pearsall.
Mertz spoke glowingly of his expected No. 1 weapon after watching substantial film of Pearsall upon his arrival to Gainesville.
"Ricky, I mean, he's special, man. You could put anybody out on him and he put it on tape all year. Just knowing how to manipulate leverage and get that extra space. I mean, he's an NFL dude.
"He's been awesome, and we get in extra work, just talking through concepts, watching a little bit of film, talking some coverages."
Other pieces will have to serve as adequate complements to Pearsall as well. Veteran Xzavier Henderson will join an influx of young talent — including Caleb Douglas, Andy Jean and Arlis Boardingam — needed to accomplish that endeavor.
While Mertz will operate primarily from the pocket, where he'll occasionally be asked to make the difficult passes, he'll also receive help from Napier's tendency to roll out his quarterback with flood-level route concepts on the sideline of the thrower's dominant hand. There, splitting the field in half and analyzing each route from top to bottom will eliminate potential mistakes when making long tosses past the numbers.
It worked at points last season for Richardson, albeit for different reasons, and could remain a staple in instances where targeting the boundary is necessary, given the concerns about Mertz's overall arm strength.
Aside from the on-field fixes and constant tailoring of his talents to create an advantageous atmosphere, Mertz looks to be the professional leader Napier bargained for this offseason to operate the offense.
He knows that's what the head coach expected when he plucked him out of the portal and what he continues to ask from the expected QB1 in 2023.
"I think he just looks for, like, everyone kind of has that cliche quarterback, but it's a leader, someone that can make their teammates better and can do their job so well that people love to play for you."
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