Caleb Williams, the uber-talented quarterback, is not coming to Wisconsin. After some believe that Williams would come here due to his relationships with players and teams within the program, that didn’t happen. Williams went to USC like he had planned all along and followed head coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to USC. This bummed many Badgers fans out. It seemed like Williams and Wisconsin were very close, and they couldn’t get it past the goal line. From the very limited intel I got on this, Williams did not like the NIL offerings that Wisconsin could offer. Now, the spotlight turns back to Graham Mertz. The once-heralded prospect will get a chance to tell everyone to shut up and become a great Badgers quarterback. He should use this as fuel to carry him through the offseason.

Mertz will be under an immense amount of pressure to start the season. Some might say that’s unfair to a college quarterback, but that’s life in a major program. If Mertz doesn’t like it, he can transfer to somewhere like Kansas where no one will care. But it is entirely possible that Mertz continues to develop into a good quarterback and starts to finally show what everyone talked about when he came out of high school. It’s not unreasonable to think that Mertz turns into something a little more special next season. One thing about Mertz that always stands out to me is his teammates have his back.

Remember what side y’all was on lol Five gone get it done….

— Faion Hicks (@Faion_Hicks) February 1, 2022

That said, there is another strong quarterback prospect that will enter the ring with Mertz this Fall. Myles Burkett might not be ready to take the job from Mertz at the start of the season, but he is very talented. The quarterback won the Gatorade High School Player of the Year in Wisconsin. He has an arm and could push Mertz if the junior quarterback does not develop. For those that are out on Mertz, this could be your saving grace.

We’ll see what Mertz has in store for Badgers fans when he takes the field against Illinois State. But the first real test will be a road trip to Columbus to play Ohio State in Week 4.

Charlie.