Missouri Tigers Positional Preview: Quarterbacks

The quarterback position was a major question mark last season as the entire offense sputtered into one of the worst in the nation. This is one of many positions that must be improved in Barry Odom’s first season as head coach. Here is the preseason outlook at the Tigers signal callers:

Starter: Drew Lock, Sophomore

Last year he was a true freshman and took over after an uneven start to the season by Maty Mauk. Needless to say, there were plenty of growing pains. He struggled with accuracy and didn’t seem to have any chemistry with the receivers, all of whom were very inexperienced themselves. The kid was really young last year, and now with more experience and time to develop a rapport with his receivers, I think there can be a big jump from year one to year two. He has a live arm and former National Champion Josh Heupel is the new QB coach. He will be able to develop Lock and breathe some life into this offense. I expect a final state line of 21 TDs, 9 picks and 3500 yards this season for Lock.

Backups: Marvin Zanders, Jack Lowary

These guys are very different in nature. Zanders is a 6-1, 185 pound quarterback with lots of speed. He came in for one game last season as part of a goal line package. He could be used more this season in certain wildcat packages, but otherwise I expect him to maintain his spot as the backup.

Lowary is a bigger guy at 6-4, 215 from Huntington Beach, California. He comes to Mizzou after starting out at Long Beach City College, and will have three years of eligibility. He is the pocket passer, and moves well in the pocket. Here are some of his highlights from junior college:

The other quarterbacks on the roster are Hayden Rymer and Micah Wilson, who figure to be redshirted.