Brady Cook returns but Mizzou's quarterback job open for competition

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Three days before he reports for his fourth Missouri football preseason camp, quarterback Brady Cook sank a hole-in-one Thursday at Golf Club of Wentzville, using his pitching wedge to ace the 137-yard, par-3 second hole.
Perhaps it was a sign of good things to come.
When practices kick off Monday, Cook enters camp as Eli Drinkwitz’s incumbent quarterback but will have to hold off a cast of contenders for the team’s most intriguing preseason competition. Drinkwitz, who named Cook his starter a week into camp last August, will let the battle linger later this year if a clear starter doesn’t emerge. But the stakes are clear: A program that’s stumbled through three straight .500 regular seasons on Drinkwitz’s watch needs stronger play at the sport’s most important position. Or else? Jobs are on the line all around.
“Everybody would like to have things handed to them, but competitors know that the only thing better than a little competition is more competition,” Drinkwitz said at last week’s Southeastern Conference media days in Nashville. “Brady is one of the most relentless competitors that we have on our football team. He competes every single day, whether it’s running the stadiums or how he eats or how he trains. He’s one of those edgers, man. He ain’t ever letting anybody get an edge on him.”
This year, unlike last summer, the Tigers believe they have other competent candidates positioned for a true competition. Redshirt freshman Sam Horn has developed on and off the field, perhaps enough to unseat Cook with a strong August. Transfer portal addition Jake Garcia has the most Division I experience among the other contenders, appearing in eight games last season at Miami. Junior college transfer Dylan Laible and newly arrived four-star freshman Gabarri Johnson are long shots but provide depth in reserve.
Cook, after an inconsistent 2022 season — he completed nearly 65% of his passes for 2,724 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions — underwent shoulder surgery in January to repair a torn labrum on his throwing arm but was fully cleared to resume workouts in the spring. He’ll open camp with the first-team offense but needs a strong month to earn the starting snap when Mizzou hosts South Dakota on Aug. 31.
Cook’s offseason has “consequently caused Jake, Sam and Dylan to really embrace that competition, and they know they’ve got a long way to go,” Drinkwitz said. “The reality is we’ve got to complete vertical balls down the field outside of the numbers and push the ball vertically down the field. And we’ve got to complete them. Whether that was (Cook’s) injury or protection or whatever it was last year, it’s got to get fixed. And whoever is going to give us the best opportunity to do that is going to be our quarterback. They’re all going to have their opportunities.”
Drinkwitz has long sought a credible vertical passing game to put a scare into SEC defenses, but that’s rarely been the case the last three years. On passes targeted 20 yards or more downfield last year, Cook completed 32.2%, averaged 12.5 yards per attempt with an efficiency rating of 90.9. That was better than former starter Connor Bazelak’s season averages on deep balls in 2020 (28.0%, 8.3 yards per attempt) and 2021 (31.9%, 11.9 yards per attempt) but far from elite by SEC standards.
Cook’s scrambling ability could give him another edge. His 585 rushing yards last season were the most for a Mizzou quarterback since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012.
Garcia got a taste of playing time for the Hurricanes last year, attempting double-digit passes in games against Middle Tennessee, Duke, Virginia and Pittsburgh. The sample size is smaller, but his deep-ball production was limited: 25% completion rate, 10.3 yards per attempt with a passer rating of 49.3.
“Brady will have the benefit of being a starter all last year,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s been in the fire. We know what he’s gonna do under pressure. But we all understand that we have to be more explosive offensively. We’ve got to throw the ball more effectively down the field.”
Horn, who dazzled on the pitching mound in three appearances for the baseball Tigers this past season, might have the most upside among the candidates. The 6-foot-4, 217-pounder looks the part of an SEC starter — his fastball hit 97 mph this spring — but Drinkwitz clearly hesitated to put him on the field last year, giving him just one series against New Mexico State.
But Drinkwitz believes Horn’s brief success in baseball — he sat out the season’s final three months after straining his forearm — sharpened his confidence on the football field.
“When you come in and you’re learning and you’re unsure of yourself and you’re not getting maybe the game reps that you wanted to, maybe there’s some (thought) like, ‘Am I really going to be good enough?’ ” Drinkwitz said. “And then he goes over in baseball … and is throwing that thing 95, 96 for three innings. I think he realized, ‘Yeah, I’ve got the ability. I’ve just got to put it all together.’ ”
“It wasn’t just about the natural talent,” he added. “Sam is a naturally talented young man. It was about everything else off the field, whether it’s controlling his diet to making sure that his diabetes is under control, making sure that his weight was adjusted, making sure he’s getting sleep, making sure his grades are right. … I think this spring, having to have that baseball, football (schedule), all that together, has really caused him to really get a focus. And he has … had a great spring and tremendous summer.”
Camp will decide some crucial special teams roles, too. While the Tigers are set at kicker with perennial All-SEC candidate Harrison Mevis, Drinkwitz will have to settle on a punter between Australian newcomer Riley Williams, a transfer from Towson University, and walk-on Luke Bauer (De Smet). Walk-ons Brett Le Blanc and Trey Flint will compete for the long snapper job. Wide receiver Luther Burden III should be first in line for punt return duties, while a cast of contenders will compete for the kickoff return job.
{h2 align=”center”}Mizzou Camp Preview{/h2}
{p align=”center”}Projected depth chart
{p align=”center”}(#, Name, Year)
Quarterback
12 Brady Cook, Jr.
21 Sam Horn, RsFr.
6 Jake Garcia, Soph.
18 Dylan Laible, Jr.
TBA Gabarri Johnson, Fr.
Kicker
92 Harrison Mevis, Sr.
19 Blake Craig, Fr.
Punter
97 Riley Williams, Jr.
93 Luke Bauer, Soph.
Long snapper
49 Brett Le Blanc, Fr.
46 Trey Flint, Gr.
Mizzou does not release a preseason depth chart. The depth listed above is an early projection.
{p align=”center”}Players lost from 2022 depth
Quarterback
Jack Abraham, eligibility expired
Tyler Macon, transferred to Alcorn State
Specialists
Sean Koetting (kicker/punter), eligibility expired
Jake Hoffman (long snapper), eligibility expired
Jack Stonehouse (punter), transferred to Syracuse
Daniel Hawthorne (long snapper), transferred to Purdue