Eli Drinkwitz puts no timeline on Missouri naming starting quarterback

Missouri is moving into the post-Brady Cook era as the quarterback is preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft. Somebody else will be under center for Eli Drinkwitz this season as a competition is set to take place. But Drinkwitz is not in any kind of rush to name a starter. He believes the quarterback battle will be over when somebody emerges in front of the team.

Spring practice is not about finding out who should be the starter for Drinkwitz, though. His goal is to see the entire roster develop in a positive direction. The focus appears to be on individual growth throughout 15 practices plus a spring game.

“There’s an old saying ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,'” Drinkwitz said. “I think the quarterback position, there is no timeline, no timetable. When the starting quarterback makes himself known to the rest of the team, we’ll announce the starter. But I told those guys that there is no plan to try to name a starter through spring.

“I don’t really believe in that because I think it puts too much pressure on the team and everybody involved. This is about individual development. This is about each player trying to get better and better every single day.

Drinkwitz is letting Penn State transfer Beau Pribula plus two in-house guys, Sam Horn and Drew Pyne, focus on themselves. Pyne did get some run for Missouri last season while Pribula left Penn State in the midst of their College Football Playoff run. Horn did not have a pass attempt in 2024.

Still, somebody has got to take the first quarterback rep on the practice field. Drinkwitz says to not read too much into that as the quarterbacks had a fun game to decide their order.

“You know how we decided who was going to be the first quarterback out there today? Old fashioned paper, rock, scissors,” Drinkwitz said. “So don’t look too much into that. It’s about player growth and not having pressure to perform right now. That will come but it’s about these guys making plays.”

Aug. 30 against Central Arkansas is when a starting quarterback has to be determined by. More important, Missouri hosts Kansas the following week in the renewal of one of the more bitter rivalries out there.

Until then, Drinkwitz wants to make sure all three guys use the spring as an opportunity to grow.