Badger victory knocks Purdon't out of top 25. 
@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.
Mertz reminds me a lot of Christian Yelich this past season. You just knew Yelich was going to break out and come on big. But he never did. I think Mertz will show the same result.
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.
@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).
@Tschmack posted:I guess I don’t see the comparison at all.
I guess you are the only one. Mertz was supposed to be the QB savior that would taake the Badgers to the playoffs. He isn't. Yelich was supposed to be the guy to always make the Brewers go. The last 2 seasons he wasn't. Get it now?
The Yeli comparison is a stretch
