NFL coaches weigh in on Graham Mertz ahead of NFL Draft, give surprising responses

Graham Mertz had a fascinating college career, spending six seasons with two teams, the Wisconsin Badgers and Florida Gators. Now, he’s moving on to the NFL, hoping to find a home during the 2025 NFL Draft.

Ahead of the fun, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero surveyed executives, coaches and scouts on Mertz’s potential. It’s certainly not a shoo-in he receives a proper chance in the NFL, but there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the 24-year old.

“He actually has a chance to get drafted, because he was a [high-profile] recruit, he’s done some good things on tape. It’s just never really happened for him,” an AFC coordinator told Pelissero. “But I think he’s got a shot. He plays good ball. He throws it good. He might be one of those guys that was a tough deal, just constant bad luck along the way.” 

All told, Mertz was a three-year starter at Wisconsin before transferring to Florida. While he got hurt a bunch with the Gators, he did rank third in FBS with a 72.9 percent completion percentage in 2023, before breaking his collarbone. Then, he tore his ACL during his sixth and final college season last October.

“He’s been injured and got injured again this year,” an NFC assistant coach told the NFL Network analyst. “But when you watch the tape when he’s playing for Florida this past year, there’s just some natural ability there. Shoot, to stay in the game after he tore the ACL and go down (and lead) a scoring drive is impressive. He’s got some toughness and grit to him.”

In total, Mertz played in 50 college games, starting 48 of them. He completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 9,099 yards and 64 touchdowns with 31 interceptions. Additionally, he ran for 13 scores.

“I think he’s impressive. But you’ve got to go to the injury history there,” an NFC quarterbacks coach told Pelissero. “The coaches and staff at Florida absolutely rave about him.”

All in all, an AFC quarterbacks coach believes you could do worse than taking a chance on Mertz in the 2025 NFL Draft: “He’s worth taking a flier on,” he stated. “Limited traits. Not really athletic. But solid quarterback who played pretty well [before he] got injured this year. There’s a chance.”

Time will tell what the NFL holds for Graham Mertz. One thing seems to be for sure, there may be more potential here than the common fan thinks.