SEC Football Quarterback Power Rankings:
No. 6 Florida’s Graham Mertz
The mighty Florida Gators have not been so mighty in 2023. They beat Tennessee in Gainesville (because they always do), but other than that, the blue and orange have been mostly blue this season.
In three games against Power-5 opponents, Florida is 1-2, and head coach Billy Napier’s seat is getting a little bit hotter. Keeping hope alive for the Gators is, unexpectedly, quarterback Graham Mertz.
Mertz has been a significantly better quarterback this season than he was at Wisconsin. He leads the SEC in completion percentage (79.1%) and is on pace to break Mac Jones’ all-time single-season efficiency record of 77.4%. While that is unlikely to happen, it is majorly impressive that Mertz (who had never completed more than 61.1% of his passes in any season prior) has gotten off to such a hot start.
The touchdowns haven’t been there for Florida this season, so, naturally, Mertz has only found receivers for touchdowns six times. However, he has been way better than projected as many analysts picked him to be the conference’s worst performer before the season began.