For three years, there have been questions about Barry Odom. A lot of them. An 8-4 regular season that included a landmark win at Florida answered many of them. But there was still one gaping question out there: What in the world is Odom going to do once Drew Lock leaves?

Odom answered that question on Tuesday night.

When former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant announced his intention to play his final season at Mizzou for Odom, Missouri's 2019 quarterback race ended. (It's worth noting here that as a graduate transfer, Bryant isn't technically bound to Missouri until he shows up for class next semester, but at this point it would be a major surprise if he wasn't playing for the Tigers next year).

Lock came into this season as a Heisman hopeful and started like a house afire. Through three games, he was 78-116 for 1,062 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception. Over the next five games, Missouri would lose four times, capped by a second half against Kentucky without a single first down. And, boy, were there questions after that one. About Lock, about Odom, about everything.

But Lock finished the season playing the best football of his career. Missouri won four straight and vaulted into the top 25 in both the College Football Playoff and the Associated Press rankings. The senior completed 69% of his passes for 981 yards, nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. He ran for three more scores.

With that winning streak, Lock's status among Mizzou fans was secure. He will head off the NFL Draft after the Liberty Bowl, almost certainly as a first-round pick. But while his play silenced many of Lock's critics, it simply gave Odom's more ammo.

Lock committed to Missouri when Gary Pinkel was the head coach. Since then, the Tigers have signed four quarterbacks. Jack Lowary wears a vest and signals in plays during games. Juco transfer Lindsey Scott, Jr. fell from second-string to fourth-string and didn't see the field this season. Taylor Powell and Micah Wilson have thrown a combined 20 passes, all in mop-up duty. The Tigers have a commitment from Ohio high school prospect Connor Bazelak, but expecting him to be ready to start as a true freshman in the SEC would not be a wise path.

The simple fact was this: Odom didn't have a quarterback on the roster he felt comfortable with heading into his fourth season. That became obvious when Bryant got a call from Missouri coaches within hours of announcing his intent to transfer from Clemson after four games this season.

On Tuesday night, when Bryant chose Missouri over Auburn, North Carolina, Mississippi State and Arkansas, the biggest question for the 2019 Tigers had its answer. He's going to be the starter next season. We may have to go through the charade of saying that every player has to earn his spot and every job is open for a few practices, but Missouri didn't chase Bryant to compete for a job and Bryant didn't choose Missouri to potentially sit on the bench.

The reasons Bryant chose Missouri are actually all the reasons to have hope for Odom's future on the Tiger sideline.

Mizzou won eight games this year, more than any of Bryant's pursuers besides Mississippi State. The Tigers were 18th in the country in total offense. From the group that put up those numbers, they will bring back three starting offensive linemen, their top four tailbacks and 12 of the 16 receivers who recorded a catch this season. They will trade Alabama for Ole Miss on the schedule and face West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina all at home. There are reasons to think Missouri is going to be a very good football team next year. But those reasons wouldn't much have mattered without a quarterback.

Now, let me pump the brakes here for just a minute. We don't want to turn Kelly Bryant into Brian Coulter, v2.0. In 18 games over the last two years, Bryant averaged less than 200 yards passing and threw fewer touchdowns and nearly as many interceptions as Lock did as a sophomore. He was not selected to any all-ACC teams last year and was available to Mizzou because he lost his starting job this year (albeit to the nation's No. 1 high school recruit who has Clemson back in the national semifinals for the fourth consecutive year).

In other words, Bryant isn't going to single-handedly carry Missouri to an SEC Championship Game. But he's not going to be asked to.

Prior to Bryant's announcement, Missouri had a lot of pieces to a 2019 puzzle that looked pretty good. But it was missing the most important piece. The Tigers are banking on Bryant snapping into place to complete the puzzle.

The importance of landing Bryant goes beyond simple football matters. When he announced his intent to transfer, many Missouri fans hoped the Tigers would pursue him. Those hopes were largely met by most (including me) with some version of "Sure, I guess they could do that, but why is he going to come to Mizzou?"

But pursue, Missouri did. And Odom and Derek Dooley laid out all the reasons Columbia was the perfect place for Bryant to use his final year of eligibility. They won him over.

Missouri is never going to recruit with the SEC's big boys. Not by the numbers or the rankings. And, truthfully, players that have offers from places like Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Auburn (the Tigers from Auburn aren't in that class this year, but they frequently have been in the past) don't choose Missouri very often at all. Some of them have offers from those schools that dry up and they end up at Mizzou. But players with committable offers to those places don't play for Mizzou. In recruiting, the rich get richer and the poor hope they're smart enough to beat the rich on the field even if they'll never beat them on the recruiting trail.

Kelly Bryant could have played for Auburn. He could have gone to Arkansas and reunited with the guy that recruited him at Clemson. He could have followed in the footsteps of Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald at Mississippi State. But he chose Missouri over all of them.

The importance of that for the Tigers and for Odom cannot be overstated. What it means for next season and beyond remains to be seen. But on this day, for this moment, it's huge. Bryant has been the biggest free agent on the market for nearly three months now. The fact he chose Missouri will be headline news in Columbia, Fayetteville, Starkville and Auburn. It will lead shows on the SEC Network. Even Pawwwwlllll will talk about it. Recruiting is PR and Missouri's just got a huge boost.

Mizzou won eight games this year...but this just might be the most important W of the year.