Few Power 5 QBs have more career starts than Florida's Graham Mertz

During the latest stop on his spring speaking tour at the Panhandle Gator Club, Florida coach Billy Napier was asked — as he typically is — about the quarterback battle between Graham Mertz and Jack Miller III.

Napier expressed confidence in both players and added that their competition has rubbed off on the team’s third scholarship QB.

“I was extremely pleased with the work that we observed in spring practice. I thought Graham and Jack both performed really well,” Napier told Gators Online’s Keith Niebhur. “Certainly [Graham] has caused Jack to elevate his game. Max Brown really made drastic improvement in year two. I’m excited about that group. I think we can get that group to play winning football.”

Napier also dropped a noteworthy nugget in his reply.

“Graham’s a very experienced player,” he said of Mertz, a three-year starter at Wisconsin. “The guy’s started 32 football games. I don’t know if there’s another quarterback in the country that’s got 32 starts. I’m excited about him and his experience.”

There are, in fact, only a half dozen at the Power 5 level.

Just six quarterbacks in the nation have more Power 5 career starts than Graham Mertz with the Badgers: Oregon’s Bo Nix (47), Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman (45), LSU’s Jayden Daniels (43), Ole Miss’ Spencer Sanders (42), Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel (37) and BYU’s Kedon Slovis (37).

Moreover, only nine quarterbacks have made 30 or career starts at Power 5 schools and there are 21 total QBs with at least 25 starts (see below).

Graham Mertz vs. other Power 5 QBs

Here’s a rundown of how Mertz’s career starting experience compares to other Power 5 quarterbacks, starting with the SEC.

SEC

Jayden Daniels, LSU: 28-15 record (.651 winning percentage) in 43 starts at LSU (14) and Arizona State (29)

Spencer Sanders, Ole Miss: 31-11 record (.738 winning percentage) in 42 starts at Oklahoma State

Graham Mertz, Florida: 19-13 record (.593 winning percentage) in 32 starts at Wisconsin

Will Rogers, Mississippi State: 19-13 record (.593 winning percentage) in 32 starts at MSU

Spencer Rattler, South Carolina: 23-7 record (.766 winning percentage) in 30 starts at USC (13) and Oklahoma (17)

KJ Jefferson, Arkansas: 16-11 record (.592 winning percentage) in 27 starts at Arkansas

Devin Leary, Kentucky: 17-9 record (.653 winning percentage) in 26 starts at NC State

Payton Thorne, Auburn: 16-10 record (.615 winning percentage) in 26 starts at Michigan State

RELATED: Billy Napier highlights key stat from Graham Mertz in spring game

PAC-12

Bo Nix, Oregon: 31-16 record (.659 winning percentage) in 47 starts at Oregon (13) and Auburn (34)

Michael Penix Jr., Washington: 22-7 record (.758 winning percentage) in 29 starts at Washington (13) and Indiana (16)

Jayden de Laura, Arizona: 13-16 record (.448 winning percentage) in 29 starts at Arizona (12) and Washington State (17)

DJ Uiagalelei, Oregon State: 22-6 record (.785 winning percentage) in 28 starts at Clemson

Cam Rising, Utah: 18-7 record (.720 winning percentage) in 25 starts at Utah

ACC

Sam Hartman, Notre Dame: 27-18 record (.60 winning percentage) in 45 starts at Wake Forest

Garrett Shrader, Syracuse: 13-16 record (.448 winning percentage) in 29 starts at Syracuse (23) and Mississippi State (6)

Jordan Travis, Florida State: 18-10 record (.642 winning percentage) in 28 starts at Florida State

Jack Plummer, Louisville: 9-16 record (.360 winning percentage) in 25 starts at Cal (12) and Purdue (13)

BIG 12

Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma: 23-14 record (.621 winning percentage) in 37 starts at Oklahoma (12) and UCF (25)

Kedon Slovis, BYU: 23-14 record (.621 winning percentage) in 37 starts at Pittsburgh (11) and Southern Cal (26)

RELATED: Graham Mertz details transfer to Florida, his transition this spring

BIG TEN

Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland: 16-13 record (.551 winning percentage) in 29 starts at Maryland

Ben Bryant, Northwestern: 16-9 record (.640 winning percentage) in 25 starts at Cincinnati

OTHERS

Grant Wells, Virginia Tech: 17-17 record (.500 winning percentage) in 34 starts at Virginia Tech (11) and *Marshall (23)

Cameron Ward, Washington State: 20-12 record (.625 winning percentage) in 32 starts at Washington State (13) and *Incarnate Word (19)

* — denotes non-Power 5 school