CHICAGO - During the second part of the Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst spoke to the large media contingent gathered inside the Hilton Chicago on Friday morning.

Unlike Thursday afternoon's conversation in front of local beat reporters in attendance at the annual event, Chryst fielded questions from a variety of national media Friday morning. And once again like a day prior, similar topics like running back Jonathan Taylor and the upcoming quarterback competition were brought up.

“I’m excited to be here and for you to get to know the three players that came to Chicago with us," Chryst said in his opening remarks. "All three [are] great representatives of our program. All three a little bit different. I think that’s what’s fun about getting to coach a team is it’s made up of all different types of individuals that come together. I think Tyler Biadasz, Chris Orr and Jonathan Taylor are great representatives of our team.

"I like our team, and I appreciate what they’ve done to this point. Certainly looking forward to starting fall camp and making the most out of the opportunity that is this season.”

The last question posed to Chryst during his 15-minute session may have produced the most entertaining response.

What’s your quarterback situation this season, Coach?

“We’re going to have one. We’re going to have four," Chryst said.

"I like our group. I appreciate a lot of what Jack Coan did for us last year. Jack got five starts, and I thought he got better in each one of those starts. Like what we were talking about earlier, having that experience of having played and then being able to learn from that and take a whole offseason -- a winter, a spring and a summer -- I think Jack has gone about it the right way and has gotten better.

“I also like two young quarterbacks that have been in the program in Chase Wolf and Danny Vanden Boom. I like what they’ve done not just this spring and summer but from really kind of in their development. Certainly we’re really excited about Graham [Mertz]. He’s early in on the process, so I like the group that we have. I’m thankful that we’ve got Jack coming back that has played in games, and certainly looking forward to fall camp and seeing the growth and development of all of them.”

[Note: Coan played in five games, but started four]

The subject of Mertz's personality came up. The 2019 All-American Bowl MVP and former four-star signal caller enrolled early at Wisconsin this past winter and took advantage of spring ball reps.

Chryst noted his young signal caller has "a great personality" and has "done a nice job" of getting to know the team.

“There’s a lot of buzz and talk about him and I think he’s handled it well, and the team has handled it as well," Chryst said. "I appreciate [that] he’s the same person. He again, is one that’s grounded. Unbelievable worker, and certainly I think he’s going through a lot.

"Any of the freshmen -- we had three freshmen come in early and they’re experiencing a lot for the first time. Going to school and being away from home and obviously there’s a ton of football with it. I think all three have handled it, Graham’s handled it well. I’m excited for those three, Graham in particular, who went through spring. And then you have summer and now to be able to go into fall camp and it’s not all new to them, but I’ve been impressed with how Graham has handled himself.

"I think again, he cares about a lot about his teammates and is a good teammate himself, a good person, and I think that’s a great place to start.”

Repoters asked a couple of questions regarding Taylor, the 2018 Doak Walker Award winner, who already has been named to a couple watch lists this week and claimed 2019 Big Ten preseason honors on Thursday.

On the field, Taylor has amassed 4,171 yards in two seasons, but Chryst spoke about the leadership of his junior running back, as he feels that aspect is "growing and developing as well" from his first two years in Madison.

"Certainly from freshman year to sophomore year, he was more of a leader," Chryst said. "Like you’d expect and hope, he has taken that leadership to another level. What’s impressive about Jonathan, to me, is as great of a running back that he is -- and I do think he is a great running back -- he cares a ton about this team and his teammates. As he continues to keep pushing to new heights and new levels of performance, he is staying unbelievably grounded.

"There’s natural leadership qualities in ‘JT’ and I think he’s certainly, each year, feels more freed up, and I think maybe it’s his place, too, to try to be a vocal leader, but always has been a great leader by example. Really all three of the players that are down here, they’re here for a reason and that’s they’re all three significant leaders of our team, and again I think great representatives. Not just ‘JT’ but Chris Orr and Tyler Biadasz."

The feeling is that Taylor will likely declare for the NFL Draft after this 2019 season. A question came up about the rule of players having to wait three years before entering the NFL Draft, and if there should be an exemption for players like Taylor to play on Sundays earlier..

Chryst sees it both ways and acknowledged that it was difficult "to put an individual into a broad scope."

“Jonathan has done some amazing things," Chryst said. "He sets the all-time [single-season rushing] record for freshmen, broke Adrian Peterson’s record. Then he was able to answer that with a heck of a season last year and winning the Doak [Walker Award]. And yet I don’t know what ‘JT’s’ number will be, but I think there’s still things that he can do. That’s what I love about him is he sees it. He can still improve upon and he can still work to get better at.

"I think that part of our job as college coaches is to make sure our student-athletes are ready and confident for the next chapter of their life. If it happens to be -- like Jonathan, which I believe is having a chance to play in the NFL -- we want him to be ready and confident for that. We’ve still got more work to do. He’s got more work to do to be his best. I think he can still take it to another level, and that’s what’s fun about it.”

“To answer your question about the three years, I think you can never fit it all into every person. Yet I think if you take a look at the large scope of it, they’re going to need time to prepare themselves not just mentally for the game but physically.”