Veteran QB Jack Abraham joins Mizzou’s 2022 competition | Mizzou Sports News

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri’s quarterback competition has a new arm.

Former Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss and Mississippi State quarterback Jack Abraham committed to the Tigers on Sunday after visiting the campus over the weekend, he told the Post-Dispatch. He formally announced his transfer plans Monday on social media.

Abraham, Southern Miss’ starter from 2018-20, will initially join Mizzou as a walk-on with a chance to earn a scholarship for the 2022 season, his seventh season in college football.

“Whether or not (a scholarship) works out, that’s not what I’m coming for,” Abraham said. “I’m coming for the opportunity to compete and play at the next level. So that’s the opportunity I was given. I think it’s the best decision that I’ve made up to this point. I’m fired up.”

Abraham said the message from Mizzou coaches was clear: “They’re looking for a guy to come in with experience,” he said.

“This is year seven, so I’ve got about as much experience as anybody else,” he added. “They’re looking for experience and for a guy to add to the competition. What they were able to tell me was I’ll get a fair chance to compete for the job. That’s really all I can ask for at this point.”

Abraham, who turns 25 in October, plans to move to Columbia later this month. He won’t be moving here alone. His one-year wedding anniversary is coming up next month. His wife, Amy, is a speech pathologist in Houston, Mississippi, and will join him in Columbia eventually.

Once he settles into his new program, Abraham will join returning quarterbacks Brady Cook and Tyler Macon on the roster. Sam Horn, a four-star recruit from Georgia, is also expected to move to Columbia later this month. Horn could be taken high enough in July’s MLB draft to decide between a pro-baseball contract and a football scholarship at Mizzou. No matter how that situation unfolds, the Tigers have addressed depth at the position.

Abraham’s commitment comes after Mizzou missed on three Power 5 QB transfers over the last three months: Arizona State’s Jayden Daniels, who chose LSU; Georgia’s J.T. Daniels (West Virginia); and Baylor’s Gerry Bohanon (South Florida).

Abraham first heard from Mizzou receivers coach Jacob Peeler earlier this spring. Peeler, a fellow Mississippian, had recruited Abraham out of high school at Cal. Then last week, those conversations picked up.

“After talking to Coach Hamdan, Coach Drink and Coach Peeler, I knew that they were interested,” he said. “So I shot up here this weekend just to get my eyes on it. I feel really good about it.”

Abraham, an Oxford, Mississippi native, committed to Tulane in high school but signed with Louisiana Tech in 2016 after the Tulane staff was fired. He redshirted at Louisiana Tech as a freshman, then played one season at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he threw for more than 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns. His next stop was Southern Miss, where in three seasons he passed for more than 7,000 yards with 41 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He led the nation in completion percentage in 2018 at 73.1% and for his three-year run completed 69.3% with a passer rating of 147.4.

After the 2020 season, Abraham transferred to Mississippi State to enter Mike Leach’s quarterback competition, but he suffered from post-concussion syndrome following a collision during a helmet-less offseason workout. He didn’t appear in any games last season and was granted a medical redshirt and seventh year of eligibility for 2022. In January, he entered the transfer portal with one remaining year to play at the college level.

“I’ve seen a lot, played at every level pretty much,” Abraham said. “Group of Five, juco, obviously I was at (Mississippi) State for a little bit and played there in the spring. I’ve seen a lot and from talent-wise and a player perspective, I pride myself on accuracy, footwork, timing, just getting the ball out quick and getting it in those playmakers’ hands. That’s something that I prided myself on at Southern Miss for three years.

“That timing piece is really something I pride myself on, getting in that extra work with the wideouts, spending extra hours working on routes. I can run a little bit if I need to. If there’s a big old dude chasing me I tend to run a little faster. I’m not the fastest guy in the world, but I can do it if I need to.

“Just being a being an accurate quarterback, being a definitive decision-maker and just being a leader. That’s something I’ve learned throughout my time playing football. There’s a lot of guys out there who look up to the quarterback position. That’s something that I really take pride in, just being a leader on and off the field.”