Jack Coan’s injury puts pressure on Graham Mertz to perform

With Jack Coan (foot surgery) out indefinitely, Graham Mertz now has to step up as the No. 1 quarterback for Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin senior quarterback Jack Coan suffered a non-contact injury to his right foot during practice last Saturday, and after surgery on Tuesday he is out indefinitely. In his place, according to Colten Bartholomew of the Wisconsin State Journal, redshirt freshman Graham Mertz is taking first-team reps in practice.

A four-star recruit out of Overland Park, Kansas in the 2019 class, Mertz appeared in two games as Coan’s backup last year, completing 9-of-10 pass attempts. In the wake of Coan’s injury, redshirt sophomore Chase Wolf and redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom have taken the practice reps behind Mertz.

Badgers head coach Paul Chryst spoke about the progress Mertz has made from Year 1 to now entering Year 2.

“You’re talking about the first year in college. It’s very different, but starting his second season, second year of football with this program, so I think he’s put a lot of time in and I think he has progressed.”

Coan is 12-6 as the Badgers’ starting quarterback since stepping in late in 2018. He set a program record with 236 completions last season, despite battling a shoulder injury throughout, as he completed 69.6 percent of his passes with a 151.8 passer rating (19th in the country), 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. So Mertz was no threat to take the starting job from him without an injury.

Mertz is the highest-rated quarterback to come to Wisconsin out of high school, and as fans clamored to see him last year Coan earned the starting job an asserted himself as a leader. Now, Mertz gets to prepare as if he’s the starter.

The loss of two-time Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor to the NFL stands to put more onus on whoever the quarterback is for the Badgers this year. As expected, even in a short season, Wisconsin is the favorite to win the Big Ten West again.

The Badgers will open their season Oct. 24 against Illinois, followed by games on the road at Nebraska and at home against Purdue before traveling to play Michigan on Nov. 14. If Coan misses any or all of those games, Mertz will get a chance to show what he’s made of with plenty of pressure on him.