Heading into fall camp in 2022 there wasn’t really a quarterback competition like anticipated among Jack Abraham, Sam Horn and the player who became the starter, Brady Cook.
There was a competition for all of about a week. So, technically there was a competition but if it only lasts the first few days of camp its not really all that much of a competition.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz entered the 2023 offseason saying the quarterback position was up for grabs among Cook, Horn and Miami transfer Jake Garcia.
This is good for a number of reasons.
Upside
Cook suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder in week two and played most of the season with the injury.
He had an up-and-down season but finished the regular season strong and helped the Tigers win its last two games to clinch a bowl berth.
It wasn’t until after the Tigers’ loss in the Gasparilla Bowl that it was announced Cook would be having surgery to repair the shoulder.
This competition gives Cook another chance to prove why last year’s “competition” wasn’t much of a competition for a reason and what he can do when he is healthy.
For Horn, he gets to prove why he had a four-star rating coming out of high school. Some hoped he would get a chance to play last season but he just wasn’t ready.
With a year under his belt to learn the offense and his athletic ability he can prove that he is every bit of the top 75 player Mizzou signed.
For Garcia, he gets a new start with starter Tyler Van Dyke returning to Miami, but he also gets a chance to earn a starting spot in a winnable competition.
It won’t be easy, but Garcia came with the expectation that he could compete for the starting spot and in his eyes win it.
He’s also a former four-star prospect and showed he has the arm strength to make the throws required for the offense.
Downside
The not-so-glamorous part of this competition is realizing there isn’t a one-size fits all option. Obviously, if there was a quarterback the Tigers felt could do everything they needed at quarterback there likely wouldn't be a competition to begin with.
There are questions about if Cook can make the required deep throws that the offense needs for big gains.
Obviously, his shoulder injury played a part in that, but Cook’s throws were dramatically less on target the further they got from the line of scrimmage.
(Click here to read about Cook's passing depth in 2022.)
He also struggled reading the field sometimes which resulted in missing open receivers.
However, Cook brings experience and knowledge of the offense to the table.
Again, he finished the season strong and showed a lot of toughness by playing through the injury and still completing 65% of his passes for 2,739 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions while adding 585 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
It’s important to note that at the Tigers' Come Home Tour stop in St. Louis in April Drinkwitz said Cook would be the starter if the season started in April.
Horn is the most athletically gifted of the three and has a cannon for an arm. But he suffered an elbow injury playing for the Tigers baseball team and was limited in spring football.
Again, Garcia can make the throws that the offense needs but he probably ranks third in terms of athleticism among the three quarterbacks and he doesn’t have the same grasp of the offense as well as the current clubhouse leader (Cook).
The feeling out of spring football was that Garcia performed well but that perhaps the best quarterback during spring ball was walk-on quarterback Dylan Laible, who still seems to be on the outside looking into this competition (for now).
Considering Garcia's main opposition was injured he could’ve really created a healthy distance in the competition going into fall camp.
Reality
The reality of the situation is it's still very much an open competition, but considering Cook missed all of spring ball yet Drinkwitz has him leading the competition says he is in line to start week one if things stay the same.
Once Garcia announced his commitment in January it seemed like either he or Horn would head into fall camp as the presumptive favorite and Cook would be trying to make up the distance once he recovered from surgery.
The opposite happened and now they’re the ones chasing Cook.
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