2018 Camp preview: Quarterback
With SEC Media Days in the books, it’s finally time to start looking ahead to the 2018 football season. Missouri will begin its preseason camp on Aug. 3. Each day until then, PowerMizzou will evaluate the roster one position group at a time, breaking down the depth chart and the outlook for the season. Today, we start with the quarterbacks.
The starter: It doesn’t get any more straightforward than this. Drew Lock, fresh off an SEC record 44-touchdown season, was voted to the first team of the league’s preseason all-SEC teams last week. Lock toyed with the idea of entering the NFL Draft, but opted to return for his senior season and will look to cement his legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks in school history with a successful final year. The question now is not whether this is Lock's team, it's how far he can take the Tigers, and whether he can live up to the preseason hype as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.
The backups: Missouri released its first depth chart of the preseason last week, and the top two names behind Lock surprised some fans. Junior Jack Lowary and junior college transfer Lindsey Scott Jr. were listed as co-backups to Lock. Redshirt sophomore Micah Wilson, who served as Lock’s primary backup a season ago, and redshirt freshman Taylor Powell, who showed a few impressive flashes in the Black and Gold game, were not listed on the three-deep depth chart. Since the group is so inexperienced — Wilson is the only player to have attempted a pass at the Division I level — it’s tough to get a read on the competition, but it appears likely that the order behind Lock will remain fluid all season. The situation is worth monitoring both to know who would step in if Lock is injured, and to see who might have the inside track on taking over as the starter in 2019.
Camp outlook: There’s not much suspense at the quarterback position, and that’s a good thing. The one storyline to continue to monitor is how Lock appears to handle the new formations and packages said to have been installed by new offensive coordinator Derek Dooley. Can Lock still dice up opposing defenses when he takes snaps from under center, and can he correctly diagnose pressure and coverage schemes if the offense slows down in between plays? We probably won’t truly know the answer until the games actually begin, but in the meantime, it’s something we’ll watch for and ask about.
Projected Week One depth chart:
1. Drew Lock
2. Lindsey Scott
3. Jack Lowary