In a crucial year for the program, three program stalwarts drove the Tigers to success.
Welcome to the MV3, a weekly piece where Rock M Nation’s staff votes on the three most impactful players in Mizzou’s previous game. This time, we’re voting on the most valuable players of the just-completed 2024 football season.
1. Brady Cook
Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images
Brady Cook wasn’t our near-unanimous choice for the team MVP because he had a stastical year for the ages. If you’re looking for that, almost no one on the team qualifies. But when taken in context, Cook’s senior season was the perfect cap to his remarkable Mizzou career. Despite battling injuries for much of the season, Cook posted numbers close to or better than his career averages. And while he couldn’t quite match the highs of his Pro Football Focus grades from 2023, he still managed a strong 80.2 overall grade that places him squarely in the top half of all SEC QBs. Cook accounted for 16 total touchdowns in his final 12 games of the season and only turned the ball over twice, continuing his reputation as a safe pair of hands. And he saved his best for last — understandable when you factor in the injuries — putting on a clinic against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Music City Bowl.
Cook’s detractors will always be around, but his 2024 season makes a safe case for you to ignore them: He was not only one of Mizzou’s best ever QBs, he was one of its consummate winners and True Sons.
2. Armand Membou
Mizzou’s offensive line had its ups and downs in 2024, the result of losing two key figures from the celebrated 2023 unit. But you know who didn’t have ups and downs? Future NFL lineman Armand Membou. The junior was a rock in his third year as a Tiger, allowing no sacks and just nine QB pressures during the entire season. His run and pass blocking took steep upward turns by Pro Football Focus’s grading system, and Membou ended the season as a Second Team All-SEC member on both the coaches and Associated Press lists. His early departure to the NFL stings, but he played a key part in two of the program’s best seasons… you can’t ask for much more than that.
3. Johnny Walker, Jr.
All of the hype at defensive end in the summer of 2024 was focused on the arrival of blue-chip prospect Williams Nwaneri. A few months later and Nwaneri is off to his second program in as many years, while Johnny Walker, Jr., proved himself Missouri’s best pass-rusher by a wide margin. JWJ tied his career high in overall tackles at 43, but also posted career highs in sacks (9.5) QB hurries (30) and QB hits (4)… all while playing significantly fewer snaps as a senior. He saved one of his best games for last against Iowa, helping Missouri clinch its second straight 10-win season by doing what he always did best — being a dogged rusher off the edge.
Others receiving votes: Daylan Carnell, Marcus Carroll, Chris McClellan, Nate Noel, Theo Wease, Jr., Zion Young
What do you think? Did the right guys end up on our final list? Let us know in the comments or at Rock M+!