FULL DSTYORY LINK: https://www.stltoday.com/sports/col...cle_71dd5a66-4cf9-11ee-84bc-970c56bd5e45.html
BENFRED: Brady Cook is, officially and again, Missouri's starting quarterback.
The news isn’t surprising. It’s not disappointing, either, despite what some fans seem to think.
And yet, I have to say, Drinkwitz’s handling of his so-called quarterback competition did neither Cook nor Horn any favors.
If Drinkwitz didn’t think Horn was deserving of receiving a legitimate in-game chance to make his case, he should not have presented this as a legitimate QB competition.
He should have just named Cook the starter exiting fall camp and said he saw enough to make the call. But by promoting the QB competition then sounding overly critical of a second-half performance from Horn in which the challenger barely got a chance to throw, Drinkwitz sounded annoyed by the idea of the competition. The competition he promoted.
Cook played super solid in the South Dakota win. Horn was given glorified handoff duty. His interception was on a drop. His touchdown was on a screen pass. He completed one beautiful ball to Mekhi Miller, enough to make anyone watching want to see more against Middle Tennessee.
But if that chances comes, it will be as the clear No. 2. Drinkwitz ended the so-called competition Tuesday, not long after objecting to my suggestion his decision was clear.
I think it's the right call. Throwing the prettiest ball doesn't mean you are the right pick for QB1. I also think it should have been handled better.
Unless Horn was going to get a legitimate chance in games to prove he could win the job, and that wasn’t going to be the case based on what we heard about practice performance, Drinkwitz phrasing this whole thing like he finally did Tuesday would have been a better approach.
Cook is the starter. Horn will get chances to play and grow his game. Horn may not have liked that, but players tend to prefer truth over spin.
BENFRED: Brady Cook is, officially and again, Missouri's starting quarterback.
The news isn’t surprising. It’s not disappointing, either, despite what some fans seem to think.
And yet, I have to say, Drinkwitz’s handling of his so-called quarterback competition did neither Cook nor Horn any favors.
If Drinkwitz didn’t think Horn was deserving of receiving a legitimate in-game chance to make his case, he should not have presented this as a legitimate QB competition.
He should have just named Cook the starter exiting fall camp and said he saw enough to make the call. But by promoting the QB competition then sounding overly critical of a second-half performance from Horn in which the challenger barely got a chance to throw, Drinkwitz sounded annoyed by the idea of the competition. The competition he promoted.
Cook played super solid in the South Dakota win. Horn was given glorified handoff duty. His interception was on a drop. His touchdown was on a screen pass. He completed one beautiful ball to Mekhi Miller, enough to make anyone watching want to see more against Middle Tennessee.
But if that chances comes, it will be as the clear No. 2. Drinkwitz ended the so-called competition Tuesday, not long after objecting to my suggestion his decision was clear.
I think it's the right call. Throwing the prettiest ball doesn't mean you are the right pick for QB1. I also think it should have been handled better.
Unless Horn was going to get a legitimate chance in games to prove he could win the job, and that wasn’t going to be the case based on what we heard about practice performance, Drinkwitz phrasing this whole thing like he finally did Tuesday would have been a better approach.
Cook is the starter. Horn will get chances to play and grow his game. Horn may not have liked that, but players tend to prefer truth over spin.
