Fall camp preview: Quarterback
As Missouri prepares to kick off fall camp practices for its second season under head coach Eli Drinkwitz, a sense of normalcy has returned. Drinkwitz's debut season got delayed and de-railed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but after the Tigers managed to go 5-5 against an all-SEC schedule, fans are optimistic to see what he can do in year two.
Drinkwitz and Missouri will start fall camp practices the first week of August. So, every day over the next couple weeks, we will break down each of the team's position groups. We start, of course, with the quarterbacks.
The Starter
Last season, Missouri had an open competition for the starting quarterback spot, with Shawn Robinson ultimately earning the nod over Connor Bazelak. That is not expected to be the case this year.
Bazelak took over the starting spot from Robinson midway through Missouri's second game of the season and never relinquished it. The redshirt freshman (who has played two seasons with Missouri but still has all four years of eligibility remaining) completed 67.3 percent of his passes, throwing for 2,366 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions. He earned SEC freshman of the week honors two times and was named the league's freshman of the year at the conclusion of the season.
With Robinson now playing safety, we expect Bazelak to take virtually all of the first-team reps during fall camp. There's room for Bazelak to progress (more on that shortly), but this also represents his first full college offseason, so it seems plausible to expect him to take a step forward.
The Backups
Once Bazelak took over starting duties a season ago, freshman Brady Cook served as his backup. Cook, now a redshirt freshman, should have the inside track to that number two spot again this season. The Chaminade high school product looked solid in his limited action a season ago, completing six of seven passes and throwing a touchdown.
Cook will be pushed for the backup spot by another St. Louis area native, Tyler Macon. Macon skipped his senior season at East St. Louis, which was moved to the spring, in order to enroll early at Missouri and participate in spring practices. The former four-star recruit put up gaudy numbers as a junior, throwing for 4,241 yards and 39 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions. While some believe Macon could be the quarterback of the future for Missouri, it would come as a surprise if he pushes for the starting job during his first season on campus. That said, keep in mind that both Macon and Cook can appear in up to four games this season and still retain a year of eligibility.
Camp Storyline to Watch
Can Bazelak take another step forward? The Ohio native impressed with his poise and accuracy last season, especially considering the circumstances. Bazelak tore his ACL in Missouri's final game of the 2019 season and thus missed the majority of offseason workouts, then had to try to learn a new offense while taking second-string reps for most of fall camp. So it stands to reason that spending an entire offseason with Drinkwitz could position him for a strong season.
Missouri fans will hope that improvement comes in two areas: downfield passes and red zone production. Bazelak struggled a bit to complete passes over the top of the defense a season ago. He hit on just 28 percent of passes that traveled more than 20 yards, throwing four touchdowns and three interceptions on such throws. Both Bazelak and Drinkwitz admitted during spring practices that he needs to improve his downfield passing in order to soften up opposing defenses. Bazelak also threw just three touchdowns in the red zone last season, a number that will need to improve now that running back Larry Rountree III is no longer on the roster. While fall camp likely won't provide the final answer about how Bazelak has progressed in those areas, it will be interesting to get our first look at him in a few months.
PowerMizzou Prediction
As noted above, it would likely take an injury for anyone to surpass Bazelak atop the quarterback depth chart. We're projecting Cook to hold off Macon for the top backup duties.
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