Tag: Wisconsin Badgers

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Football

Graham Mertz Deserves Better

Playing quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers has to be one of the most stressful jobs in the world. Everyone knows Wisconsin loves to run the football, but we don’t fully commit to the run like the military academies do, so we ask our quarterbacks to throw the ball 15-20 times a game. In theory that seems like it should be an easy job, just fake a few handoffs and throw it to a tight end a few times a game. Wrong. There is so much more pressure on every pass, and that can’t be easy for a 19-23-year-old kid to have their every move on and off the field scrutinized.

In the modern era of Badger football, we have had a plethora of average quarterbacks, with a singular outstanding season from Russell Wilson thrown in the mix. So when fans heard that Graham Mertz, a 4-5 star recruit from Kansas, was coming to Madison, they immediately touted him as the savior. And it started out as good as anyone could have drawn up. Coming out and torching Illinois in his first start as a redshirt freshman gave Wisconsin so much hope. But then Covid decimated that season and we never saw Mertz get into a proper rhythm. Then the next two years he was not asked to do much and would struggle when he was asked to throw. A lot of that is playcalling and the situations the coaching staff put him in.

Throughout it all, the media was not kind to Mertz, but he would go up to the podium and say the right things with his head held high, but was still hated. I think Mertz is still talented, but Wisconsin was not the place for him. I am happy that he entered the transfer portal after the coaching change, and I hope we see him go to a smaller school, preferably in a small conference like the MAC. Michigan State legend Rocky Lombardi followed this blueprint after three meh seasons at MSU, and Mertz should do the same. Getting to go and sling the rock at a small school and show off his arm in case he still wants to play at the next level is the best thing for him. He deserves to fly under the radar in his last two years of eligibility and I hope nothing but the best for a fellow Badger.

Categories
Football

Chryst Was Not the Problem or the Solution for Wisconsin

As a lifelong Badger fan who was born and raised in the great Green Bay, Wisconsin, I have seen the same brand of football for too many years. The DNA of the team has been to control the clock by running the ball and fielding an elite defense year after year, but what happens when we cannot run the ball and do not have an elite defense? We lose to out-of-conference teams at home, Big Ten teams at home, and get blown out by Ohio State. All that happened within the first five weeks of the season, and the University decided it was time for a coaching change.

Paul Chryst was a good hire back in 2015 and helped the Badgers win a lot of games during his tenure, but nothing he was doing was original, and that is not all his fault.

Barry Alvarez helped turn Wisconsin back into a formidable football program, but when he stopped coaching, he became even more involved in the program as he became the AD. You could still see his imprint on the way the Badgers play, and in my mind, because he pressured all the coaches to coach like him and call plays like he did in his time. And mostly Wisconsin has gotten away with it, mainly thanks to the ridiculous offensive line play, talented running backs, and elite defenses.

Chryst’s first two years gave the program hope, as even without a superstar RB we were able to finish 10-3 and 11-3 respectively. Play calling that first year was even bordering on creative, as we would run the wildcat here and there with the 2-way legend Tanner McEvoy. Then 2016 Chryst had the help of some bum on defense named TJ and the 2nd ranked defense in the country. Then the next three years felt like a bit of a blur but saw more success. This was largely due to the emergence of once-in-a-generation talent who goes by the name of Jonathon Taylor. Three years of the best running back in the nation can cover up a lot of issues elsewhere on and off the field.

In the past two years and change, we have gotten to see what Chryst can do without the help of Jonathon Taylor, and it has not been up to the standard that now surrounds the Wisconsin program. Moving on from Chryst to Jim Leonard is the move that fans have been calling for, and let’s see if he can deliver.

He is a youthful spark that can hopefully speak to younger recruits and convince the Wisconsin recruits to stay home and swing recruits from outside the state to come to Madison.

Most importantly, Barry Alvarez is no longer the AD, and if Jim Leonard has the final say over what goes on, I would not be shocked to see a change in identity on the offensive side of the ball in the coming seasons.