Eli Drinkwitz shares plans for quarterback room entering spring

For the first time since Eli Drinkwitz took over in 2020, Missouri will roll out a quarterback other than Connor Bazelak. The two-year Tigers starter and former SEC Co-Freshman of the Year transferred to Indiana this offseason, leaving the door wide open for the position in 2022.

With Missouri kicking off spring practice this past week, Drinkwitz offered an update on where the competition between Tyler Macon and Brady Cook stands.

“It’s important for Tyler and Brady to know that jobs won’t be earned in the spring,” the coach said.

Drinkwitz also made note of incoming freshman Sam Horn and said he doesn’t want to put to much pressure on any of the candidates in spring practice. So don’t expect a full-time starter to be named even after the spring game on March 19.

Both Macon and Cook played sparingly this past season at Missouri. Cook received a start in November against eventual national champion Georgia when Bazelak missed that game. He went 14-for-19 for 78 yards passing while also adding 32 yards rushing. The quarterback also started for the Tigers in the Armed Forced Bowls, finishing with 238 yards passing and a touchdown.

Although Cook holds the upper hand in experience, Horn has the highest recruiting ranking of the three coming out of high school. The Georgia native is a four-star recruit and the No. 14 quarterback in the 2022 class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He chose to attend Missouri over offers from Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma State and many others.

Whichever of the three quarterbacks that ends up winning the starting job will have big shoes to fill. Bazelak finished with 2,540 yards passing, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this past season as the Tigers went 6-7. The quarterback also led the team to its first bowl appearance in the young career of Eli Drinkwitz.

Missouri is set to kick off the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. It will be interesting to see whether a change at quarterback bring the Tigers their first winning season under Drinkwitz.