Eliah Drinkwitz provides update on Mizzou QB Connor Bazelak's health ahead of practices
Last year, Connor Bazelak served as the top backup quarterback at Mizzou, behind Clemson graduate transfer Kelly Bryant.
However, playing in the Arkansas game at the end of the year, Bazelak suffered a torn ACL, so his status for the coming 2020 season and a potential competition with TCU transfer Shawn Robinson has been up in the air.
On Wednesday, though, new Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz told reporters that Bazelak is at 100% again and would compete for the starting job:
Drinkwitz: QB Connor Bazelak is 100 percent participatory, will compete for the job. Had knee surgery after last year's final game.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) August 12, 2020
That’s a good sign for the rising redshirt freshman, who completed 15 of his 21 pass attempts for 144 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in 2019.
Not having a spring practice season means none of the other quarterbacks got an inside track on the job, so Bazelak will have as good of a chance as any to be the Tigers’ Week 1 starter.
This is why Drinkwitz didn’t look for a transfer qb! Also Mizzou is in a shorten scholarship offer this year. Also this will be the final shorten scholarship limit. So not too bad what Drinkwitz have done so far.
It’s refreshing to see a head coach that wants to groom a Quarterback…instead of taking the easy route and getting a transfer QB. But offense is Drinks’ strength. Impressed what he’s done at Mizzou. Year two & three should be good years for a long-suffering fan base.
Um probable starter is a transfer. Sorry you spoke out of turn.
Appreciate the sentiment but 4 years isn’t long (look at what Tennessee’s gone thru). 2015 should have been a good year and well Odom was a transition coach who provide some entertainment. 80s and 90s, well those were some long years.
I think AFan is as close to knowing as anybody. Bazelak thinks and sees quickly. Distributes quickly. Robinson is only better in situations where the play book needs time to develop the yardage to be gained
I think Shawn starts as starter but I wouldn’t be surprised to see bazeliak s skills demand he play a lot too. The best thing we can hope for is drinks offense sinks in real fast with the players and hard to figure for a while for opponents. I don’t care who we’re playing a .500 season is where I determine good or bad season one for drink. If we don’t run onto every field believing we can win let’s not waste the money to show up. I don’t care if it’s mo st or lsu.
The more competition the better, and it was Bazelak that Drinkwitz tried recruiting to NCState. Provided he truly is 100% healthy I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t end up being a very intense competition and difficult decision. Don’t sleep on Cook either, and with Macon (Elite 11 finalist) coming in next year there’s going to be some good competition, if nothing else depth, for a while.
Missouri players are really injury prone. Exceptional athletic training staffs are trained to mitigate those.
Bazelak was injured at Arkansas which was not at the normal stadium. It was a cheap on in Little Rock. That was had the worst turf and that is what got him injured. I am demanding Arkansas to go back to the normal stadium or replace the turf for the next game there.
Yes, bad astro turf is an injury maker. There’s a lot of opposition to playing in Little Rock but i guess not enough yet.
Having QB depth is something we’ve lacked for a long time. Thankfully drew lock never got injured.
I’m not sure what kind of depth we have now, but I believe Bazelak, Cook, and Macon are all solid.
Drew lock was a tough kid…always reminded me of Bret Favre. His NFL career is looking quite promising. But yes…the strength & conditioning coach is the major factor in limiting injuries.
If your season revolves around one quarterback you are always one injury away from losing your season. Know the playbook each one can execute and use the playbook your opponents have the most trouble defending.
I thought with a walk on also there were 6 in the QB room.
Robinson, Powell, Bazelak, Cook, and Macon. Not sure about any walk on QBs, but if there is one then that’s 6.
My bad, Macon is class of 2021. So only 4, or 5 if there’s a walk on.
Missouri has a quarterback turned receiver that might QB on trick plays
Last year Bazelak comes in and the Mizzou fans w/ working brains are saying Ho Li Szt this kid is amazing. Genius OC Dooooooo ly had him on the bench collecting pollen, another mark of Odom having to prove he was smarter than anyone at MU. Thank Zod for Wyoming.
Let’s be honest on that. Odom and Dooley probably guaranteed KB they’d stick with him thru thick and thin and it cost them their jobs. Bazelak ran the same plays, saw success though short. KB was the issue.
yup, bad policy, by bad coaches.
It’s 100% about Bazelak throwing the ball with near Gabbert velocity and near Chase-Drew accuracy. There are some things you simply don’t deny being better and that kind of passing is one of them.
hhmm, i never thought of Bazelak like that, i thought he was just getting the ball there on time and picking the right option quicker than everybody else.
I hope this is not the case, but today’s players who do not win the starting quarterback job at one school will more than likely transfer out at the end of the year. It is not just quarterbacks either that won’t hang around and be a back up.
Bazelak may not be the starter at the beginning of the year but I’d be surprised if he isn’t the starter before October is over. He’s got the skills and the head to do really well.