Pourover: This is Brady Cook’s team

All offseason Missouri fans have been expecting to see a quarterback battle. Watching the Tigers last season left observers underwhelmed by the play of the QB, regardless of the impact of any labrums on Brady Cook’s performance, many were still champing at the bit to see a better passer under center.

Then for the last few weeks we were told how close Sam Horn was and maybe there was a real competition in camp. Eli Drinkwitz told the media we would see both Quarterbacks early to determine the starter. He said he wanted to see both guys get ample opportunity to determine the starter by the time Week 3 and Kansas State rolled around. We thought there would be enough of a competition that we even asked for votes on who would win!

But if you watched the game against South Dakota, it sure didn’t look like there was a competition going on. It looked like Brady Cook is the starter, and Sam Horn was getting 2nd half reps once the game was in control. The script was vanilla, but the first half looked like a regular first half. The second half looked more like an attempt to bleed the clock out.

Cook attempted 21 passes on 6 drives, the offense ran the ball 22 times. Horn attempted 5 passes on 4 drives while the offense ran the ball 18 times. The Missouri offense ran 20 more plays with Cook at the helm than it did Horn.

So where was the competition? Maybe that was the point.

I don’t blame those who want a change. There are very real and clear limits to Cook as a passer. And I do think Drinkwitz should be more upfront in an attempt to give Horn a shot. Even if you still think Cook is your guy, you still want to give someone with Horn’s talent more exposure to help in his development.

With that said, Cook is the guy. This is his team.

When Horn passes the ball down the field, you can see why he’s intriguing. It makes sense that he would be a highly-rated recruit. The ball zips out of his hand. Meanwhile, Cook’s passing isn’t as crisp. His down the field throws, even when they’re completed, aren’t eye-popping.

But being a Quarterback is so much more than how you look throwing the ball down the field. Brady Cook tics every other box for what you want as a Quarterback. He runs hard, he competes, he knows the playbook, and the biggest of all he’s a leader and his teammates see him as a leader. There’s no questioning Cook’s leadership or his competitiveness.

So that’s where we are. Brady Cook is very likely going to be the starting Quarterback this season. And this team can win a good amount of games with Cook as the starter.

However it really would make sense to still try and get Horn as much work as possible. Live reps are needed to develop Horn further. Because even though his time was limited it’s still clear after watching how things went with each player that Cook is the more prepared player right now. Cook’s offense was more precise and clean. It did what it was supposed to do. Horn has work to do still.

Other SEC Scores:

• Georgia (1) 48, UT Martin 7
• Alabama (4) 56, Middle Tennessee 7
• Tennessee (12) 49, Virginia 13
• North Carolina (21) 31, South Carolina 17
• Ole Miss (22) 73, Mercer 7
• Texas A&M (23) 52, New Mexico 10
• Kentucky 44, Ball State 14
• Arkansas 56, Western Carolina 13
• Auburn 59, UMass 14
• Mississippi State 48, SE Louisiana 7
• Vanderbilt 47, Alabama A&M 13