How Brady Cook's healed shoulder and earned experience factor into Mizzou's QB battle

Columbia Daily Tribune
Brady Cook didn’t see the ball go in, but Cody Schrader did.
Teeing off from 125 yards away on the par-3 second hole at The Golf Club of Wentzville near St. Louis, Cook, the incumbent starting quarterback for Mizzou football, pulled a pitching wedge. His shot landed a few feet behind the hole, and he went to put his club back in the bag. But unbeknownst to him, the ball spun back and dropped in the cup, which only his most frequent backfield partner from the 2022 season saw.
Swings like that, and the sprint to the green that he said followed, suggest Cook’s torn labrum has healed just fine.
“That was pretty cool,” Cook said, “pretty good vibes heading into camp.”
Now begins the process to determine if the vibes stay that way and if the man with the hole in one can repeat as QB1.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said at SEC media days in July that Cook will run with the first team in training camp until — and if — he’s supplanted. Redshirt freshman Sam Horn and Miami transfer Jake Garcia are the prime contenders looking to unseat him under center. But, for now, at least, it’s Cook’s show.
The offseason offered plenty of lessons for Cook, who would become the first repeat Week 1 starting quarterback in Drinkwitz’s four-year tenure should he suit up against South Dakota on Thursday, Sept. 2, at Memorial Stadium.
Cook brought up his experience as the starter Sunday, shortly after players reported for camp.
That could be the key in determining Mizzou’s QB race.
“You spend three years in college football, you learn a lot,” Cook said. “You learn a lot about media, … you learn a lot throughout the season in games, just how that works and different looks and different high-pressure looks. You learn a lot about fall camp, too. You know, it’s tough. You’re gonna be tired, you’re always competing in fall camp.
“Four seasons for me, I kinda just know how all that works now.”
Drinkwitz put it in pretty blunt terms what he’s looking for.
“Whether you're the quarterback, linebacker, tackle, punter, kickoff guy,” he said Sunday, “every position on our team has competition, and the best players will play.”
There were plenty of indicators from Missouri’s second day of training camp Tuesday — held in the new, $33-million Stephens Indoor Facility to escape wet Columbia weather for the second straight day — that Cook’s stay with the first team might not be temporary.
The first period of practice paired the quarterbacks and centers for snapping practice. Cook caught hikes from Connor Tollison, last season’s starter.
Meanwhile, Horn was paired with Houston transfer Cam’Ron Johnson, who played guard for the Cougars but may move to the middle in Columbia. Garcia stood behind Drake Heismeyer, last season’s backup to Tollison.
When they moved to work on handoffs, Cook practiced with Schrader.
Horn worked with Rock Bridge grad Nathaniel Peat, whose playing time dwindled as Schrader’s surged last season. Garcia handed the ball off to redshirt freshman Tavorus Jones.
And through the nine practice periods open to media, Cook looked sharp.
He hit receivers Luther Burden III and Theo Wease Jr. in stride during a red-zone drill — albeit up against air while the defense practiced on the opposite side of the facility. Wease hauled in Cook’s pass at the back-left corner of the end zone; Burden was just over the goal line and outside the right hash.
Horn flashed the potential expected of the former four-star but also exhibited some raw signs, throwing well behind speedy Ole Miss transfer Dannis Jackson for a defense-less incompletion. Garcia showed off some of the arm talent Drinkwitz has mentioned, as he directed Burden while the QBs simultaneously worked on drifting out of the pocket, before hitting the second-year receiver square in the chest from around 35 yards away.
Between the good and bad, the race is likely to run longer than the week it took Drinkwitz to officially name Cook starter in 2022.
But Cook has started this year’s race on pole, and that’s becoming familiar ground.
“The only difference really is that experience behind me, that confidence I’m gonna have now just knowing I’ve seen all these looks, I’ve been here before,” Cook said. “I’ve competed in fall camp before. It’s just a sense of confidence I’m gonna have. Other than that, you know, it’s fall camp. It’s fall camp number four for me, it’s the same process and the same deal.”