At this point, there's not much mystery. After counting down 24 players, plus another 14 that merited consideration, we're at the top. My choice for the best Mizzou football player of the last 25 years.
Number 1: Chase Daniel, Quarterback, 2005-08
Gary Pinkel set his sights on the record-setting quarterback from Texas powerhouse Southlake Carroll early on. After landing the state champ over the likes of Utah and Stanford and surviving a last-minute "no we promise we liked you all along" pitch from Texas, Pinkel then redesigned his offense to fit the skills of the kid he thought could take his program to the next level.
Daniel made an immediate splash, beating out upperclassman Brandon Coleman and redshirt freshman Chase Patton for the backup job as a true freshman. With Brad Smith playing his final season, Pinkel committed early on to give Daniel a series in the second quarter of most games. There's been some revisionist history about the early results of the experiment. Daniel played in four of Missouri's first five games, but was just 9/18 for 61 yards and an interception. He had run 13 times for 35 yards. He was a freshman, so there was no panic, but there had also been no real indication that he was a program changer.
Until October 15, 2005.
Smith took a vicious hit in the fourth quarter against Iowa State with the Tigers down 24-14. The senior wasn't playing very well that day. He'd thrown for just 45 yards on 12 attempts and run for 39 on 11 carries. With Smith down and out, the freshman came in. He led Mizzou to 10 points in the final 4:44 to tie the game, then won it in overtime on an Adam Crossett field goal. The 27-24 comeback win allowed Mizzou to qualify for a bowl game at 6-5. That was the comeback win over South Carolina in the Independence Bowl. The combination of the two likely saved jobs at Missouri. Maybe not Pinkel's, but almost certainly some of his staff. Smith rode off into the sunset after that game and the program belonged to Daniel. The rise was about to begin.
In 2006, he completed 63.5% of his passes for 3527 yards, 28 touchdowns and ten interceptions. That set a single season yardage record at Mizzou by more than 1,000 yards (football was changing a little bit). The touchdowns were also a school record by a landslide. Missouri finished 8-5 with a loss in the Sun Bowl to Oregon State, but 2006 was just the appetizer anyway.
Daniel and the Tigers took the country by storm in 2007. In a dream season that would see the Tigers make their first Big 12 title game and rise to the nation's No. 1 ranking, the junior threw for 350 yards or more six times. He ended up with 4306 passing yards, 253 rushing yards and 37 total touchdowns on the season. It was all good enough to put him in the Heisman conversation. He was the first Missouri player invited to the ceremony since Paul Christman in the late 1930s (there may not have been a ceremony where players were invited then, I don't know) and eventually finished 4th behind Tim Tebow, Darren McFadden (whose Arkansas Razorbacks Daniel beat in the Cotton Bowl) and Hawaii's Colt Brennen. Had Missouri won the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma, Daniel likely would have finished at least one spot higher on the ballot, but it wasn't to be. But still, 2008 awaited and hopes were high for the Tigers and their quarterback.
Missouri opened the 2008 season No. 4 in the country and Daniel was one of the preseason favorites for the Heisman. Through five games it was all on track. Daniel was 119/156 for 1665 yards, 15 touchdowns and one interception and Missouri had not had a three and out all season on offense. But a three-interception loss to Oklahoma State in week six derailed the Heisman chances and effectively ended any real national championship hopes. Missouri would finish the season 10-4 with a second straight loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game.
The irony is that, statistically, Daniel was even better in 2008 than he had been in 2007. His completion percentage went from 68.2 to 72.9. He threw for 4335 yards, 29 more than the year before. He went from 7.6 yards per attempt to 8.2. He threw six more touchdown passes, but also seven more interception.
Regardless, Daniel rewrote the Missouri record books. He went 30-11 as a starter, led Missouri to three straight bowl games, won two of them and was the quarterback for two teams that finished the season in the national top 20 (the last time that had happened at Missouri was 1968-69). He owns the top two passing seasons, and three of the top five, in school history. His 101 touchdown passes are still the school record. He's got more completions, more attempts, more touchdowns, more yards and a higher completion percentage than any quarterback in school history and is one of two Mizzou players to finish in the top five in the Heisman Trophy voting. His career passer rating is 10 points higher than any other Mizzou QB.
Was Chase Daniel the best pure football player ever at Missouri? Probably not. Did he have some help? Of course he did. All the great ones do. But he was the face of the program and played the most important position during the years in which Missouri went from a .500 team to one that was in the national spotlight. He set records that still stand and likely will for quite some time. At least until the last couple of years, if you asked any college football fan the first person they think of when they think of Missouri football, Chase Daniel would probably have been the most common answer.
Not bad for a too-short, three-star kid who one analyst once told me "will never play a down at quarterback at Missouri."
Previously
2 Jeremy Maclin
3 Brad Smith
4 Justin Smith
5 Sean Weatherspoon
6 Chase Coffman
7 Danario Alexander
8 Markus Golden
9 Shane Ray
10 Justin Gage
11 Martin Rucker
12 Henry Josey
13 Aldon Smith
14 Nick Bolton
15 William Moore
16 Cody Schrader
17 Justin Britt
18 James Franklin
19 Jeff Wolfert
20 Michael Sam
21 Ziggy Hood
22 Drew Lock
23 Tyler Badie
24 Mitch Morse
25 Michael Egnew
Five that just missed the cut
Others I considered
Number 1: Chase Daniel, Quarterback, 2005-08
Gary Pinkel set his sights on the record-setting quarterback from Texas powerhouse Southlake Carroll early on. After landing the state champ over the likes of Utah and Stanford and surviving a last-minute "no we promise we liked you all along" pitch from Texas, Pinkel then redesigned his offense to fit the skills of the kid he thought could take his program to the next level.
Daniel made an immediate splash, beating out upperclassman Brandon Coleman and redshirt freshman Chase Patton for the backup job as a true freshman. With Brad Smith playing his final season, Pinkel committed early on to give Daniel a series in the second quarter of most games. There's been some revisionist history about the early results of the experiment. Daniel played in four of Missouri's first five games, but was just 9/18 for 61 yards and an interception. He had run 13 times for 35 yards. He was a freshman, so there was no panic, but there had also been no real indication that he was a program changer.
Until October 15, 2005.
Smith took a vicious hit in the fourth quarter against Iowa State with the Tigers down 24-14. The senior wasn't playing very well that day. He'd thrown for just 45 yards on 12 attempts and run for 39 on 11 carries. With Smith down and out, the freshman came in. He led Mizzou to 10 points in the final 4:44 to tie the game, then won it in overtime on an Adam Crossett field goal. The 27-24 comeback win allowed Mizzou to qualify for a bowl game at 6-5. That was the comeback win over South Carolina in the Independence Bowl. The combination of the two likely saved jobs at Missouri. Maybe not Pinkel's, but almost certainly some of his staff. Smith rode off into the sunset after that game and the program belonged to Daniel. The rise was about to begin.
In 2006, he completed 63.5% of his passes for 3527 yards, 28 touchdowns and ten interceptions. That set a single season yardage record at Mizzou by more than 1,000 yards (football was changing a little bit). The touchdowns were also a school record by a landslide. Missouri finished 8-5 with a loss in the Sun Bowl to Oregon State, but 2006 was just the appetizer anyway.
Daniel and the Tigers took the country by storm in 2007. In a dream season that would see the Tigers make their first Big 12 title game and rise to the nation's No. 1 ranking, the junior threw for 350 yards or more six times. He ended up with 4306 passing yards, 253 rushing yards and 37 total touchdowns on the season. It was all good enough to put him in the Heisman conversation. He was the first Missouri player invited to the ceremony since Paul Christman in the late 1930s (there may not have been a ceremony where players were invited then, I don't know) and eventually finished 4th behind Tim Tebow, Darren McFadden (whose Arkansas Razorbacks Daniel beat in the Cotton Bowl) and Hawaii's Colt Brennen. Had Missouri won the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma, Daniel likely would have finished at least one spot higher on the ballot, but it wasn't to be. But still, 2008 awaited and hopes were high for the Tigers and their quarterback.
Missouri opened the 2008 season No. 4 in the country and Daniel was one of the preseason favorites for the Heisman. Through five games it was all on track. Daniel was 119/156 for 1665 yards, 15 touchdowns and one interception and Missouri had not had a three and out all season on offense. But a three-interception loss to Oklahoma State in week six derailed the Heisman chances and effectively ended any real national championship hopes. Missouri would finish the season 10-4 with a second straight loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game.
The irony is that, statistically, Daniel was even better in 2008 than he had been in 2007. His completion percentage went from 68.2 to 72.9. He threw for 4335 yards, 29 more than the year before. He went from 7.6 yards per attempt to 8.2. He threw six more touchdown passes, but also seven more interception.
Regardless, Daniel rewrote the Missouri record books. He went 30-11 as a starter, led Missouri to three straight bowl games, won two of them and was the quarterback for two teams that finished the season in the national top 20 (the last time that had happened at Missouri was 1968-69). He owns the top two passing seasons, and three of the top five, in school history. His 101 touchdown passes are still the school record. He's got more completions, more attempts, more touchdowns, more yards and a higher completion percentage than any quarterback in school history and is one of two Mizzou players to finish in the top five in the Heisman Trophy voting. His career passer rating is 10 points higher than any other Mizzou QB.
Was Chase Daniel the best pure football player ever at Missouri? Probably not. Did he have some help? Of course he did. All the great ones do. But he was the face of the program and played the most important position during the years in which Missouri went from a .500 team to one that was in the national spotlight. He set records that still stand and likely will for quite some time. At least until the last couple of years, if you asked any college football fan the first person they think of when they think of Missouri football, Chase Daniel would probably have been the most common answer.
Not bad for a too-short, three-star kid who one analyst once told me "will never play a down at quarterback at Missouri."
Previously
2 Jeremy Maclin
3 Brad Smith
4 Justin Smith
5 Sean Weatherspoon
6 Chase Coffman
7 Danario Alexander
8 Markus Golden
9 Shane Ray
10 Justin Gage
11 Martin Rucker
12 Henry Josey
13 Aldon Smith
14 Nick Bolton
15 William Moore
16 Cody Schrader
17 Justin Britt
18 James Franklin
19 Jeff Wolfert
20 Michael Sam
21 Ziggy Hood
22 Drew Lock
23 Tyler Badie
24 Mitch Morse
25 Michael Egnew
Five that just missed the cut
Others I considered
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