Graham Mertz was able to spend some time with 2 former Wisconsin quarterbacks during the offseason, and he hopes that the advice he received from them will guide him in his 4th season in Madison and 3rd as the Badgers’ starting signal-caller.

Mertz’s numbers didn’t impress over the 1st half of the 2021 campaign, throwing 2 touchdowns over the first 7 games. He recovered to total 8 touchdown passes versus just 4 interceptions across the final 6 games as the Badgers went 9-4, ending the season by winning the Las Vegas Bowl.

At B1G Media Days, Mertz talked about meeting ex-Badgers Scott Tolzien and Brooks Bollinger a few months ago. While he didn’t get to spend a great deal of time with Bollinger, he mentioned speaking with Tolzien “for nearly two hours”, as well as the questions he asked both men.

“Scottie was in the same offense I am in. For me it was about the process,” he said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus. “How did you process information when you walked up to the line of scrimmage? Because everybody has gotten a different flow. So, I asked: ‘What was your flow? What worked well for them?’ It was really good to be able to bounce ideas off each other.”

Mertz mentioned that getting to meet Bollinger and Tolzien further fueled his desire to become a mentor for younger players that come through the Wisconsin program following his departure.

“Their biggest thing was: ‘Whatever you need, whenever you need it, hit us up,” he added. “The biggest thing was that they wanted to get to know me and I wanted to get to know them. It was great.”