There’s something about a good UDFA story that inspires the imagination of a sports fan. Everyone loves an underdog, some of the best sports movies are based on this very simple fact. Brady Cook is an underdog, based entirely on his draft positioning. 

A 3-star recruit coming out of Chaminade College Preparatory School in Missouri, Cook threw for 33 touchdowns and 3,194 yards as a senior in high school before electing to stay home and enroll at the University of Missouri.

His senior year he almost took Chaminade to a state championship title but fell just short when a 2-point conversion attempt was stuffed by Mekhi Wingo, now a defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions. But in interviews after the game, the opposition De Smet coaches said they hadn’t realised just how good he was.

St Louis QB trainer Matt Biermann said in an interview with AOL that he believed that defeat was the turning point for Cook and his emotional maturity. It wasn’t the perfect way to finish his high school career, but it’s often said we learn more in our defeats than our victories.

Cook grew up a Missouri diehard, lining up Tiger Walk dreaming of one day following in the footsteps of his childhood heroes. He would spend his Saturdays in the Faurot Field parking lot playing catch, waiting to see Chase Daniel take the field. In 2020, he got that opportunity to walk onto the field himself, but it wasn’t until 2022 when he took over the starting role.

The first year was all about getting his feet wet in the college football landscape. Although the Tigers would finish with a 6-7 record on the season, which included a 3-5 mark in the SEC, there were some notable games for Cook in his first year.

He led the Tigers to a victory over South Carolina who were ranked #19 at the time, had Missouri up 22–12 in the 4th quarter over #1 Georgia before a late comeback stole the victory away. He tossed 3 touchdowns against the Tennessee Volunteers who finished the year as the nations 5th best team and threw three touchdown passes in victories over Abilene Christian and New Mexico State. 

It was just the start for Cook, who used that 2022 season as a springboard for 2023. 

2023 was one of Missouri’s best seasons in program history and Brady Cook was a huge reason why. With his command, grit, intelligence and athleticism the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 start on the season. Cook went 23–35 for 356 yards and 2 TD’s in an upset victory over #15 ranked Kentucky before completing 80.5% of his passes for 395 yards and 4 touchdowns against Vanderbilt.

Cook finished that year completing 66.1% of his passes for 3,317 yards, 21 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions while leading the Tigers to an 11-2 record (6-2 in the SEC) and a famous Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State. 

Just when Cook was building momentum for the NFL draft, he suffered through an injury-riddled season in 2024, where he had to deal with both ankle and wrist injuries. His streak of 35 consecutive starts was ended when he was forced to miss the game against Oklahoma and his stat line during his final year where he completed 62.6% of his passes for 2,535 yards, 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions paled in comparison to his 2023 season. 

But Cook’s reputation as a smart, tough, accurate QB continued to grow, especially in the Auburn game. After being injured on the first drive of the game, Cook was taken to hospital and the Tigers fell into a 17-6 hole heading into the final quarter. Cook shockingly re-entered the game to lead two touchdown drives, giving Missouri a 21-17 victory. 

This weekend, Cook will get another opportunity to show that he belongs in the NFL with a trip to the big easy to face Tyler Shough and the New Orleans Saints. “I want to continue to evaluate him and see exactly how he’s going to operate on a consistent basis,” Aaron Glenn said. Part of that evaluation will be to see whether Cook can cut down on the turnovers after throwing five interceptions over his first two games. 

Although the results haven’t been what he’d like them to be, Cook has impressed teammates with his talent and command in the huddle. 

“I feel like he did good. I feel like Brady Cook is special. Like I told him after the game, because me [and] Mitch [Adonai Mitchell] we were just talking about it, and we were like bro, he got it — he is special. We all have games where it’s going to make or break us, and how he came back every time to the huddle, and like everybody was just bought in what he was doing, like he’s special, he’s got it. Like when people talk about that ‘it’ factor, he one of them guys that got it,” wide receiver Isaiah Williams explained.

Jets centre Josh Myers added “Yeah, look, I think Brady is a good player who has a future in this league. He just has some learning to do. [Cook was] poised; he was calm in there, I thought he did a nice job calling everything and operating within the offense. I really think Brady has a future in this league,” and Myers has played with some pretty good QBs in his time including Aaron Rodgers. 

When you get eliminated from the playoffs as the Jets have, the game becomes about evaluation. It’s key to know what you have in the building so you know what to prioritise outside the building come free agency and the draft. Cook will be hoping to show that the Jets have an NFL QB on their hands.