The Wisconsin Badgers’ regular season ended yesterday with a loss to Minnesota. While Wisconsin is bowl eligible, the hope was to end the Big Ten season on a high note. A big part of this season’s struggles has been the quarterback position. Graham Mertz simply has not played up to a level that can foster winning. After the loss, interim head coach Jim Leonhard commented on the QB situation.
Jim Leonhard: "Consistent quarterback play is going to give you a chance every week. That's how valuable that position is in football. Whatever it takes we have to create competition and whatever it takes you have to get consistent play out of that position. …
— Dave Heller (@dave_heller) November 27, 2022
Jim Leonhard’s Comments On The QB Situation
The quarterback is the most important position in football. Even if you have talent everywhere else on the field, without a serviceable quarterback, the team is going nowhere. Leonhard understands this saying, “Consistent quarterback play is going to give you a chance every week.” He went on to say that he is going to do whatever it takes to get consistent play out of the position even if that means creating a little competition. He knows that in order for Wisconsin to go anywhere they need consistency at quarterback.
Mertz Had A Rough Year
This was not a great year for Mertz. He completed only 57 percent of his passes for just over 2000 yards. He did have 19 touchdowns but his 10 interceptions made his touchdown to interception ratio poor. Looking at the individual game logs paints an even worse picture. In the loss to Ohio State, he only threw for 94 yards and he never eclipsed 300 yards in a game on the season. While Wisconsin has always been a run-first team, a solid passing game is needed to succeed in college football.
The Badgers have talent on the roster. Even with the down year, many players performed very well individually. It is simply overshadowed by the poor play from the quarterback position. Jim Leonhard’s comments on the QB situation show that he is making that a top priority in the offseason.
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