5 Missouri players to watch against Iowa football in the 2024 Music City Bowl

IOWA CITY — Neither team in the 2024 Music City Bowl will be at full strength.

In Iowa’s case, the Hawkeyes will be without star running back Kaleb Johnson as he focuses on preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft.

In Missouri’s case, the Tigers’ opt-outs include star wide receiver Luther Burden III and right tackle Armand Membou. (Burden could potentially be a first-round pick.)

As for the Missouri players who appear to be playing in the Music City Bowl, here are five to keep an eye on next week in Nashville:

QB Brady Cook

Brady Cook will cap a five-year career full of honors at Missouri in this year’s bowl game.

A team captain for three years, Cook has 47 career touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions and has completed 65.8 percent of his passes. That’s in addition to his 19 career rushing touchdowns.

According to MU Sports, he will become the first Missouri quarterback to start in four consecutive bowl games.

The best season of his career was 2023, when he had 21 touchdown passes, eight touchdown runs and just six interceptions while averaging nine yards per pass attempt. He was the Cotton Bowl’s offensive MVP and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and the William V. Campbell Trophy.

This year’s numbers — 63.3 percent completion rate with nine touchdown passes, five touchdown runs and two interceptions — don’t stand out as much, but he still ranks in the top half of eligible FBS quarterbacks going to the bowl game go, with a passer rating of 137.6.

WR Theo Wease Jr.

As much as Luther Burden III grabbed the headlines, Theo Wease Jr. was also quite a threat to opposing secondaries.

The sixth-year wideout had 55 receptions for a team-high 809 yards prior to this year’s Music City Bowl. (The only player with more receptions is Burden with 61.)

Wease, one of Missouri’s consistent team captains this season, was particularly impressive in Week 2 against Buffalo. He had 13 receptions for 149 yards – the most by any receiver at Missouri in a single game this season.

The Allen, Texas native began his college career at Oklahoma, where he played in 36 games and started 11 times over four seasons.

EN Johnny Walker

Johnny Walker has clearly earned the reputation of being one of the better defensive ends in the SEC.

Walker has a team-high 10.5 tackles and 7.5 sacks this season. His streak of six straight games with at least 0.5 sacks is the longest in the country heading into postseason bowl games.

Most recently, Walker forced two fumbles that were crucial in the Tigers’ 28-21 comeback win over Arkansas to end the regular season.

This level of production is nothing new for Walker. The Tampa, Florida native was the Cotton Bowl defensive MVP in the Tigers’ 14-3 victory over Ohio State. He finished the 2023 season with 9.5 tackles and five sacks.

DB Daylan Carnell

Daylan Carnell has had his fair share of ups and downs as one of the Tigers’ starting safeties this season.

Carnell had a 68-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Mississippi State. With this result, he became the first Missouri player to score a defensive touchdown in three consecutive seasons since William Moore did so in the mid-to-late 2000s.

At the same time, Carnell hasn’t always been an efficient part of the Tigers’ defense. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed 24 balls on 34 targets – a rate of 70.6 percent. That includes at least three receptions in four of Missouri’s last five games.

K Blake Craig

Special teams fans, rejoice.

Blake Craig was one of the most intriguing kickers in the SEC.

Craig doesn’t have the consistency that Iowa’s Drew Stevens boasted, as the SEC kicker has made just 68.8 percent of his field goals this year.

But Craig — formerly the second-best kicker in his recruiting class, according to Kohl’s Kicking Camps rankings — has shown plenty of leg.

His four scores from more than 50 yards rank 10th nationally (ironically tied with Iowa’s Stevens and one other player).

His longest reach came from 56 yards in the Tigers’ Week 3 win over Boston College. His other 50-yard runs were 51 yards against Buffalo, 54 yards against Vanderbilt and 51 yards against Auburn.

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