It’s official – the countdown to the start of the 2024-25 college football season is underway, and with that comes this look at three quarterbacks who are currently taking a backseat to bigger names at bigger schools.
One is returning from an injury, another is filling a hole left by a transfer who is among the favorites on the Heisman Trophy odds, and the first one on our list will be trying to repeat an unexpected fine showing last season.
Brady Cook – University of Missouri
There were plenty of pleasant surprises in 2023, from players that came from nowhere to lead their teams to glory, to entire teams that overachieved to beat preseason prognostications and finish much higher in the rankings than anticipated.
Brady Cook and Missouri check the boxes in both of those columns, all while making friends with those backing the Tigers at top sportsbooks and gaining notoriety for Eli Drinkwitz as SEC Coach of the Year.
Missouri was a consensus 6th-place pick in the SEC East 12 months ago, and the quarterback position remained unsettled after Cook missed spring practice with a shoulder injury. Jack Garcia, a transfer from Miami, was in line to take over if Cook faltered one tiny bit.
Only Cook didn’t falter, directing the Tigers to an 11-2 record that culminated with a 14-3 upset of Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and No. 8 ranking in the final AP poll. There were some issues, such as the 26 sacks, and Drinkwitz addressed that by adding tackle Marcus Bryant (SMU) through the portal.
Cook will have his top 3 receivers – Luther Burden III, Theo Wease Jr., Mookie Cooper – from a year ago, and the Tigers have a very, very favorable September slate with Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College and Vanderbilt, each of those games in Columbia.
There’s a very real chance for the Tigers to be 7-0 when they travel to Tuscaloosa on October 26, and that would surely shorten Cook’s Heisman odds, currently +2500 to +3500.
Haynes King – Georgia Institute of Technology
Considering the Ramblin’ Wreck are showing up at sportsbooks with 5½-6 for the over/under on season win totals, this could be a tough sell for college football bettors and fans alike.
One of the first things to remember is Georgia Tech is only a few years removed from running the triple option. Brent Key came on board as an assistant under Geoff Collins when the change was made, and the entire process was interrupted by the pandemic in 2020-21.
Key is the head man at Georgia Tech now, and coached the Yellow Jackets to a winning record a season ago for the first time since 2018. Haynes King was a big reason behind that.
Georgia Tech Head Coach Brent Key gave his QB room praise and pointed out the job QB Zach Pyron did today.
“Let’s make sure we talk about Zach Pyron and what he did out there today. He did an outstanding job leading that group. When he was running with that first group, he did… pic.twitter.com/TTEx7tgOpJ— Najeh Wilkins (@najehwilk) April 14, 2024
The dual-threat QB passed for more than 2,800 yards and ran for another 1,059 as the Yellow Jackets ranked 34th in total offense (424 ypg). Georgia Tech finished 8-5 ATS after upsetting UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl, going 9-4 O/U.
There is the little matter of the 16 picks King threw in 2023, with four of those coming in a very ugly performance against Clemson. But King was also instrumental – in a positive way – in upset wins against ranked Miami and North Carolina teams along the way.
King and the Yellow Jackets have one of the toughest season openers in the country with a Week 1 matchup against Florida State in Dublin. The Seminoles opened -12½, and the spread has since bumped up a point.
A second Week 1 contest is at home against Georgia State, followed by a roadies to Syracuse and Louisville sandwiching a clash with VMI in Atlanta. A 2-3 start to the season in the W-L column isn’t out of the question, but neither is a 4-1 ATS beginning.
Avery Johnson – Kansas State University
Most of the talk regarding a Kansas State quarterback these past few months has been about the one who left Manhattan and signed a free-agent deal in Columbus to lead the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2024.
Chris Klieman and Wildcat Nation would have preferred that Will Howard – listed fourth on Heisman odds boards – would have stayed at K-State, but they’re disappointment is greatly eased by the presence of Avery Johnson.
Johnson was a 4-star recruit as a top 10 high school quarterback in the Class of 2023, and considered by some as the best overall athlete at QB in that class. He showed that athleticism off in the infamous Pop Tarts Bowl last December, starting for Howard in the Wildcats’ 28-19 win and cover over NC State.
The Big 12 will be adjusting to realignment, and Kansas State and Utah are running neck-&-neck on as the top picks to win the conference on the futures. The co-favorites are not scheduled to meet during the regular season, and Utah has its own underrated signal caller lurking in the shadows with veteran Cam Rising under center.
Kansas State does have a couple of crucial September matchups, and has the good fortune of playing both Arizona (Week 3) and Oklahoma State (Week 5) at home. Expect Johnson and the ‘Cats to prevail in both.
