Why Eli Drinkwitz Believes Brady Cook will be NFL Starter

However, Cook has already went on some treacherous paths to be a starter at Missouri for the last three seasons. Drinkwitz believes those battles will prepare Cook well for having to fight for a roster spot in the NFL.

"He's been in a quarterback competition a lot here at the University of Missouri," Drinkwitz said in a press conference on April 29. "So I don't think the pressure performance will matter to him. I think he'll handle it with grace, like he always does."

Cook won the starting competition in 2022 after Missouri struck out on some top transfer portal candidates, including Jayden Daniels, who would go on to win a Heisman Trophy with LSU in 2023.

Cook beat out Southern Mississippi transfer Jack Abraham in fall camp of 2022 for the starting job, accomplishing his childhood dream of starting for his home-state Tigers. But, the 2022 season was closer to a nightmare for Cook and the rest of the team.

He suffered a torn labrum in a 40-12 beatdown at the hands of Kansas State in Week 2 of the season. The injury significantly hampered his throwing motion through the rest of the season, but he insisted on playing through it.

"I think there's always belief in our quarterback, in Brady," Drinkwitz said after the Music City Bowl. "Because you look back a couple of years ago and maybe it didn't go our way, but he never flinched, he never changed. He just kept trying, and he kept going back out there."

After a struggle-filled, 14-touchdown, 7-interception season in 2022, Cook had to again compete to reclaim his starting position in 2023, going up against Miami transfer Jake Garcia and Sam Horn, then a redshirt sophomore.

He won the starting job in 2023 after his Week 1 performance, completing 81% of his passes and throwing for 172 yards and a touchdown against South Dakota. He'd go on to have the fourth-most passing yards in the Southeastern Conference, and lead Missouri to a Cotton Bowl win in the 2023 season.

With the Jets, Cook again enters a situation where he'll have to first compete for just a roster spot. Ironically, his top competitor for that spot is the same quarterback he dueled off against in Missouri's 2022 loss to Kansas State; Adrian Martinez.

The path did become a little less crowded for Cook in the week after he signed with the Jets, with fellow quarterback Jordan Travis, a fifth-round selection by the Jets in 2024, announcing his decision to retire from the NFL due to medical concerns.

Barring any other additions to the room, Cook and Martinez will likely compete for the third-string quarterback spot in New York behind veteran Tyrod Taylor and free-agent addition Justin Fields. Last year, the Jets rostered just two quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster — Aaron Rodgers and Taylor.

In Drinkwitz's view, Cook's chances at making the roster with New York, or any other team, will be decided by one key trait the quarterback demonstrated in his time with Missouri.

"I think it's going to come down to consistency," Drinkwitz said in the April 29 press conference. "Obviously, he's got the talent. He's going to have to learn the offense, get an opportunity, and then when he gets that opportunity, consistently make the right decisions."

Though the 2024 season for Cook was muddled by injuries and an inability for the offense to find rhythm, he did show impressive consistency in the 2023 season. In Week 5 of the season, he broke the SEC record for the most pass attempts without an interception (365).

Some of Drinkwitz's other quarterback pupils have gone on to success in the NFL. He was a quality control coach at Auburn in 2010 when Cam Newton won his Heisman Trophy six years before winning a NFL MVP.

Drinkwitz was also the quarterbacks coach at Boise State in 2015 for Brett Rypien, who won Mountain West Freshman of the Year under Drinkwitz and is now entering his eighth season as a backup in the NFL after going undrafted.

There'll be plenty of challenges for Cook to earn those same opportunities. But Drinkwitz saw first hand at Missouri how the quarterback was able to overcome similar obstacles.

"Journeys aren't always meant to be together forever," Drinkwitz said after the Music City Bowl. "So he's going to go start his own path and his own career, and I have no doubt he'll be successful in the NFL. He's going to get a chance.

Just like we all found out, don't ever count him out."