Why the Missouri Tigers should target QB Gerry Bohanon Jr. in the transfer portal

Baylor head coach Dave Aranda made a magnanimous move last week when he informed former starting quarterback Gerry Bohanon Jr. that he had lost the job to Blake Shapen upon the conclusion of the Bears’ spring practice.

Bohanon Jr. started 12 games for Baylor in 2021, helping lead the Bears to the Big 12 Championship and a win over Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. He quickly entered the transfer portal, looking to play his redshirt senior season elsewhere. 

Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz should give Bohanon a call immediately. If he hasn’t already.

The Tigers need a boost at the quarterback position, exiting spring with mostly ‘meh’ options. Neither Brady Cook or Tyler Macon inspire a ton of confidence, and four-star freshman Sam Horn won’t arrive on campus until June, so Drinkwitz isn’t flush with the best of options. 

Former Mizzou starter Connor Bazelak regressed last season and ultimately transferred to Indiana, and while Horn is ideally the future at the position for the Tigers, Drinkwitz needs a bridge quarterback for next season. 

Hello, Gerry Bohanon.

Missouri openly recruited former Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels out of the portal. Same for J.T. Daniels. The latter opted to go to West Virginia, while the former headed to play for Brian Kelly at LSU. But Bohanon is intriguing option as either Daniels.

He threw for more touchdowns than Jayden Daniels (17 to 10) and averaged more yards per attempt (7.9 to 7.2) than J.T. Daniels. Although Bohanon’s completion percentage wasn’t great (just 62.7%), his skill-set is a nice fit with Drinkwitz’s offense.

With Mizzou tailback Tyler Badie (SEC-best 1,604 rushing yards and league-high 14 touchdowns) off to the NFL, Drinkwitz plans to lean more on the QB-run game as an added element to the offense in 2022. Bohanon, who had 323 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 2021, is a better run-threat than Cook and a superior passer to Macon. I wouldn’t label Gerry Bohanon as a game-changer, but he’s an upgrade to what the Tigers currently have on the roster. 

The pieces are in place for Missouri to have a nice offense in 2022 — should the quarterback position be sorted out correctly. 

Drinkwitz has recruited a good collection of playmakers, headlined by five-star freshman receiver Luther Burden and sophomores Dominic Lovett, Mookie Cooper, Chance Luper and JJ Hester. The Tigers also added Stanford transfer tailback Nathaniel Peat, who rushed for 404 yards on 79 carries (5.1 per play average) in 2021. 

But the Tigers need a better facilitator to get the best out of its playmaking options. 

In 2021, Mizzou’s passing offense ranked ninth in the SEC in yards per game (233.5) and 13th in the conference in average yards per attempt. Bohanon at least offers Drinkwitz potential upside at the position. 

By Drinkwitz’s own admission, Missouri’s QB room needs an infusion of talent. The Tigers have a very manageable schedule in 2022 (especially a cupcake non-conference slate), so getting the quarterback spot right could be the difference between entering 2023 with program momentum (the schedule is among the softest for any SEC team in 2022) or facing potential hot-seat questions. Drinkwitz understands this, too.  

At the end of spring practice, the Tigers’ head coach said, “I can’t wait to continue to watch this battle unfold. I can’t wait to add other guys to it and look forward to Sam (Horn) getting in here this summer. We’re going to continue to add competition to this quarterback battle, because we need it more to win in this league.”

Again: Hello, Gerry Bohanon! Give him a call Eli. You have nothing to lose here.