Who will be the Mizzou Tigers’ starting QB this fall? Competition ongoing at workouts

Since the spring, Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz has intentionally remained patient in waiting to name a starting quarterback for the team’s season opener at home on Sept. 1. against Louisiana Tech.

Nobody would be given the job until incoming freshman Sam Horn had a chance to compete for it. Now, with 27 newcomers (and soon to be 28 — Coffeyville transfer Ma’Kyi Lee reclassified Wednesday and comes to Columbia Friday) participating in offseason workouts this week, the QB competition is underway.

Brady Cook and Tyler Macon return from last year’s team and are competing for the job alongside Horn and Southern Mississippi transfer Jack Abraham, who committed in May as a walk-on.

“Those four guys will be the guys and we’ll see which one comes out as the starter sooner rather than later,” Drinkwitz said Thursday.

Drinkwitz’s quarterback choice might get easier next month. Horn, a Suwanee, Georgia native and MLB.com’s No. 72 prospect for this year’s baseball draft, is likely to hear his name called during the July 17-19 selection process. The four-star quarterback is currently enrolled at MU to play both collegiate sports — baseball and football — but he will ultimately have to choose between signing a pro baseball contract or playing for MU.

The signing deadline was Aug. 1 for the first-year player draft in 2021.

Horn’s scenario is almost identical to that of former Clemson quarterback pledge Bubba Chandler. Last year, Chandler, another Georgia native, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 72 and ultimately chose to pitch, signing a $3 million deal.

“I’m not naive that Sam is going to have a difficult choice in front of him in mid-July,” Drinkwitz said. “He is an unbelievable baseball player with the ability to get drafted. I’ve met with his family and him and we believe that he has an unbelievable future here as both a football player and baseball player.

“I’m also not naive to the fact that he could choose to pursue a career in the major leagues.”

Horn was a star in football during his senior year. He led Collins Hill High to its first-ever state title and Drinkwitz praised his “elite-level arm talent.” But Drinkwitz also acknowledged that he still has to get acclimated to the speed of college football.

Both Macon and Cook started one game last season. Macon completed six of 13 passes for 74 yards and added 42 rushing yards in a 43-6 loss to Georgia. Cook started over Macon and Connor Bazelak, Missouri’s starter for most of the last two seasons, in the Armed Forces Bowl. He completed 27 of 34 passes for 238 yards and one touchdown. He also found the end zone on a 30-yard scamper.

With only two combined starts at quarterback between Missouri’s returning players, Drinkwitz went into the transfer portal looking for experience.

Abraham was Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf’s high school quarterback and is now playing for his fourth college football program in seven years. After transferring from Northwest Mississippi Community College, he played in 27 games for Southern Miss before transferring to Mississippi State in 2021.

“Us looking at a potential transfer quarterback was really no slight on (Cook and Macon).” Drinkwitz said. “In those situations, having an experienced quarterback was something that was important and something that we were looking for, but by no means …

“I saw a headline that he was the presumed starter. I think that was a presumed headline. That is not the case at all. It’s an open competition.”