Grad transfer QB Jack Abraham commits to Missouri
After months of searching for a transfer, Missouri may have found its quarterback for the 2022 season. And after an even longer and more circuitous college career, Jack Abraham has found a landing spot for his seventh and final season of eligibility. Abraham, a graduate transfer who spent last season at Mississippi State, committed to the Tigers on Monday.
"It's been a tough back and forth deal, I've been pretty torn throughout the whole deal," Abraham said on Sunday afternoon. "As I walked out of the building yesterday that was the first time I really had some clarity on what I wanted. I really feel good about the decision, really think it’s going to be a good spot for my wife and I."
Abraham and his wife were driving back home to Mississippi when we spoke, but he could be back in Columbia as soon as next week.
"If I could I’d turn around right now and go back there and get to work," he said.
Abraham will begin his time at Mizzou as a walk-on, though if things go well during the summer, there is a strong possibility of a scholarship for the season.
"If all goes well, a scholarship at some point along the journey," the seventh-year quarterback said. "At the end of the day that’s not what I’m going for. Throughout the whole process I’ve had walk-on spots, I’ve had scholarship spots. The main thing for me was just getting that opportunity and getting a fair chance to compete for a starting job. Walk-on or scholarship doesn’t matter, I’m going to go out there and work my tail off and earn my stripes."
Abraham considered Ole Miss, where his father Michael was a walk-on, and took a visit to Maryland. He also had conversations with Austin Peay. But Missouri offered him the combination of Power Five football and a chance to win a starting quarterback job. The Tigers have Brady Cook and Tyler Macon returning this year and four-star freshman Sam Horn arriving at the end of the month. Nothing was promised, but they pitched Abraham on the ability to win the starting quarterback job over the summer.
"They gave me a pretty detailed rundown of how things look at the position. After the conversation he told me I’ll be able to come in and compete for the job. At this point in my career that’s all I can ask for is a fair chance," Abraham said. "Football-wise, I think it's the best spot for me to come in and compete for a starting job."
Abraham started his college career at Louisiana Tech in 2016. Incidentally, Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker was the Bulldogs' DC at that time. Abraham redshirted during his lone season, then transferred to Northwest Mississippi Community College. After throwing for 2,949 yards and 23 touchdowns during the 2017 season, Abraham landed at Southern Mississippi. He quickly won the starting job, and in 2018, he led the nation in completion percentage at 73.1. The following season, he passed for 3,496 yards and 19 touchdowns in 13 games, although he also threw 15 interceptions. In 2020, Abraham missed five of Southern Miss’ 10 games due to injury. In all, across three seasons at Southern Miss, Abraham completed 69.3 percent of his passes and threw for 41 touchdowns and 29 picks.
Following the 2020 season, Abraham transferred to Mississippi State. However, he never played last season due to post-concussion syndrome. As a result, Abraham filed a medical hardship waiver and was granted a seventh season of eligibility by the NCAA. On April 8, he announced that he had been cleared to return to the football field.
Abraham had a previous connection with wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler, who recruited him to California way back in 2016. His weekend was spent with quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan, who sold him on the Tigers. He has not met head coach Eli Drinkwitz in person yet, but has had phone conversations with the Tigers' head coach in the last few days.
Abraham's commitment should finally bring an end to Missouri's lengthy search for a transfer quarterback this offseason. In December, Connor Bazelak entered the transfer portal, leaving the Tigers with just two returning scholarship quarterbacks and Horn, with whom some concern has arisen that he could opt to forego his college football career in favor of professional baseball if he's offered a large enough signing bonus following July's MLB Draft.
Thus, Drinkwitz has mined the portal for another signal-caller. The Tigers hosted three transfers for official visits: former Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels, who ultimately committed to LSU; J.T. Daniels, who began his career at USC, transferred to Georgia and is now headed to West Virginia; and Gerry Bohanon, who entered the portal after he was beat out at Baylor this spring and has since committed to South Florida.
It took a while, but Abraham and Mizzou each found what they were looking for this weekend. Next up, Abraham will see if he can spend his final college season as an SEC starting quarterback.
"I’ve seen a lot, I’ve done a lot. I think experience is something I’ll be able to bring to the table. I pride myself on being a really accurate quarterback and being a quick decision maker," he said. "I’m not gonna look like I’m some 6-4 stud, but I’m going to go out there and make the right decisions and put the team in the right spot to win ballgames. I’m not the best runner, not the fastest, but I can make something happen if I need to. I get out there and usually run a lot faster when there’s large humans chasing after me.
"All I’m looking for is an opportunity to go play and opportunity to start."
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