Missouri football needs a QB for 2026. All options come with risks

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Columbia Daily Tribune
Missouri football needs a QB for 2026. All options come with risks

Calum McAndrew, Columbia Daily Tribune · Columbia Daily Tribune

Tue, Dec 30, 2025 ·

6 min read

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After standing, staring, waiting, watching for more than 10 minutes while Virginia trudged and thumped its way downfield over 19 plays on a game-altering touchdown drive to open the second half, Matt Zollers and the Missouri football offense received a chance to respond.

But the rookie quarterback, with time far from on his side, gave it right back.

An off-target out route throw to Kevin Coleman Jr. went incomplete before a wildcat handoff from tailback Jamal Roberts to a sweeping Coleman picked up five yards and brought around third-and-5.

Zollers went into shotgun. He was staring at the space he was targeting before center Connor Tollison delivered the snap. As soon as the ball was in his hands, his eyes went back to that spot; the one MU wide receiver Xavier Loyd was about to occupy at the line to gain with a quick hitch. He'd tipped his hand. The sharks in the secondary swarmed.

"He's telegraphing the throw," ABC analyst Louis Riddick said on the broadcast.

Zollers didn't just show the Wahoos where he was going. He missed, too. His throw was high, right and ripped straight at closing UVA safety Antonio Clary, who got a hand — his left hand, while also breaking from Loyd's left — on the pass, tipped it up and into the arms of corner Emmanuel Karney a few steps behind him.

Drive over. Game over, not that anyone knew it at the time. Virginia had all the points it needed, and only padded the lead with the field goal that followed the pick.

The Gator Bowl was not Zollers' audition for the Tigers ' starting quarterback job in 2026. It's unfair to the rookie, thrown in as QB1 before his time, to make the stage and the moment that big.

He could, however, have made a very strong case that the job was his to win, but even a lights-out night likely would have been met with some competition coming to Columbia via the almost-open transfer portal.

Now, we know competition is coming. And, in all likelihood, a starting-caliber player is coming.

Zollers, a true freshman, is not the only person at fault for Mizzou's offensive struggles in the Gator Bowl. The offense has stagnated and stalled like this for much of the season, including while Beau Pribula , who will transfer out of the program next month, was leading the way.

Between two encouraging series to open the game and a two-minute, last-ditch effort that gave Mizzou a chance to salvage its Gator Bowl hopes, Zollers struggled.

He's still a pitcher with a frequently erratic fastball and no proven offspeed options; a long-drive champion with a putter in his hand.

Zollers' talent is obvious. In his pregame warmups at EverBank Stadium, he was getting loose with throws from 10 yards behind midfield all the way to Shaun Terry II in the middle of the opposite end zone 65 yards away.

There were throws that make you 'ooh' and 'ah,' like an up-the-seam, back-foot, on-the-move missile to tight end Jordon Harris. He showed he can process the field by backing off a throw to a covered Ahmad Hardy , who had peeled out on a wheel route, and taking his next read to Donovan Olugbode downfield.

But he is, quite obviously, still green. A project in need of refinement.

"That's his — really his third start, right? So, you know, I thought he did some really good things. Obviously, wish we could have that interception back," Drinkwitz said. "I think there was just a couple of throws that we were a little bit late to, but, you know, overall, I thought he gave us an opportunity, and that's all we could ask for. It was really on me. I didn't do a good enough job calling plays for him."

Dec 27, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Matt Zollers (5) drops back to pass against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images

Zollers may very well be Mizzou's starter next season. He showed in flashes that there is an SEC arm. Maybe, with eight months to work, the game will slow down for him and he can find a softer, more-artful touch instead of his one-speed fastball.

But he won't do that without a transfer challenger. Mizzou will look for a QB when the portal officially opens Jan. 2. Maybe even two.

Now, the Tigers have options, all of them with their pros and cons.

There is no shortage of star talent in the QB portal market: North Texas sensation Drew Mestemaker ; Nebraska 's Dylan Raiola ; Cincinnati 's Brendan Sorsby ; Arizona State's Sam Leavitt ; TCU's Josh Hoover ; Iowa State's Rocco Becht . If you want one, there are options.

But coveting top-class QBs comes with a cost.

Mizzou has already re-signed the likes of star running back Ahmad Hardy, linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez and Zollers to next year's roster. Missouri still needs to wait on NFL Draft decisions for third-year players in left tackle Cayden Green , linebacker Josiah Trotter and defensive end Damon Wilson II , but the core Mizzou builds around could be in that top-tier group.

This is relevant to the QB discussion, because that's a potentially expensive returning group.

More: Missouri football's offseason of change begins with fixing offense. Here's how

More: How does Missouri football need to attack upcoming transfer portal?

A top-rung QB could put a serious dent in Mizzou football's revenue-sharing allotment, which should be in the arena of $15 million. And third-party NIL is neither guaranteed nor limitless.

Is that type of QB transfer worth it, if it means you can't put an experienced right tackle in front of him? Or an elite wide receiver on the other side of his passes? Or fill the glaring holes on a Mizzou defense that is set to lose a lot of starters?

There's always the option to stay away from the top rung of portal QBs, and to bring someone in who would push Zollers for the starting job, rather than letting the rookie do the chasing. That might let the Tigers bolster other parts of the roster more.

But, what if that leaves you without an SEC-caliber quarterback in 2026? That's a potential season-killer. With no spring transfer portal window, there's no late fix for that after spring camp, either.

There are risks in both strategies.

And, with the portal opening Jan. 2-16, it's the call Mizzou now has to make.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What is Missouri football's best plan at quarterback in 2026?

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