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@Tschmack posted:

Had a chance to play back some of the game while on the treadmill this morning and holy crap Mertz was hard to watch.  It’s difficult to believe he was touted as one of the best QBs in the country.  He is a drive killer and his mistakes should not be happening this far into his career.  

It really is crazy just how poor he’s been since his debut vs Illinois in 2020.  In his debut he looked like he had promise, but after his Covid related absence he has looked like a dud.  

We’ve seen some other guys like Allan Evridge, Danny O’Brien that just didn’t work out and the Badgers moved on. He looks just like those guys.  Maybe the only thing that will save him is that it seems there is no one good enough to challenge him.

I guess I don’t see the comparison at all.

Yelich had sustained success both in Miami and Milwaukee but has faltered recently.

Outside of the Illinois game Mertz has been absolute trash.  

The Evridge comparison is a good one.  His flaws were very similar.  No pocket presence, saw ghosts, the game speed seemed to overwhelm him.  He also made a number of mistakes and turnovers at key moments to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.  I mean, that game at Michigan they had a huge lead and if I recall he had 3 turnovers in a half including a pick 6.  Reminds me a lot of the Mertz game against Penn State.  

Last edited by Tschmack
@Tschmack posted:

I guess I don’t see the comparison at all.

Yelich had sustained success both in Miami and Milwaukee but has faltered recently.

Outside of the Illinois game Mertz has been absolute trash.  

The Evridge comparison is a good one.  His flaws were very similar.  No pocket presence, saw ghosts, the game speed seemed to overwhelm him.  He also made a number of mistakes and turnovers at key moments to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.  I mean, that game at Michigan they had a huge lead and if I recall he had 3 turnovers in a half including a pick 6.  Reminds me a lot of the Mertz game against Penn State.  

Yelich was a very good player who progressed into being an MVP when he came into what is normally a player's prime. He fouled a ball off his kneecap and for whatever reason, he's never been the same. There was a huge sample size already when he broke his kneecap.

In mop-up duty as a freshman, and then in two games against Illinois and Michigan, Mertz looked like a future NFL QB. However, it was a small sample size.

He opened his career in those situations going

41 for 53 for 448 yards, 7 TDS and 0 interceptions.
NFL QB rating of 141.4

Since then, he's

171 for 302 for 1808 yards, 4 TDs and 12 interceptions

NFL QB rating of 62.1

There's a pretty large sample size now that Mertz isn't very good. I'm not sure how to explain except that Lovie Smith's Illini team knew Lovie was a dead man walking and the 2020 Michigan team was a trainwreck all last year (2-4 record).

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