Mizzou football announces team captains for 2024 season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou football team has designated five players to serve as team captains for the upcoming 2024 season and the names on the list won't come as a surprise.
Quarterback Brady Cook, wide receiver Theo Wease Jr., defensive tackle Kristian Williams, defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. and linebacker Chuck Hicks were all voted captains, on Tuesday.
For Cook, it is the third-straight year that he's been voted a team captain by his teammates. The honor comes after a breakout 2023 campaign from the quarterback. The St. Louis native registered nine 200-yard passing performances on his way to a 3,317 yard season, which ranks eighth on MU's single-season chart.
His offense ranked third in the SEC in total offense, as Cook threw for at least one touchdown in each of the Tigers' 13 games. The stats speak for themself, but time and time again Cook's teammates rave about the kind of leader he is. It seems only fitting that he's a captain, once more, as he enters his final season in Columbia.
Wease Jr. is entering his second season in the black and gold, after making a big-time impact in year one. After transferring from Oklahoma, he started in all of Mizzou's 13 games, tallying 49 catches for 682 and six touchdowns.
On the defensive side, Williams will also be playing his final season of college football. He's been a Tiger for two years, now entering his third season, after transferring in from Oregon after the 2021 season. The moment he arrived on campus, he found his role.
He's appeared in every game, in some capacity, over the course of the last two season. In 2023, specifically, he started in 11 out of the 13 contests. In total, Williams had 25 tackles, five tackles for loss, a forced fumble and the first fumble recovery of his career. He also had a big night in the Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State, when he tallied five tackles and a tackle for loss.
Walker Jr. has received a lot of hype in the preseason, making it onto multiple prestigious award watchlists and now getting voted a leader by his teammates.
The Florida native has been at Mizzou his entire career, as he enters his senior season. His junior season was really the breakout year for him, though, after seeing limited action in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, Walker Jr. started in 12 out of MU's 13 games, as he racked up 43 tackles, 25 solo stops, 8.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and a team-high nine quarterback hurries.
Last but certainly not least, Tiger veteran Chuck Hicks will, unsurprisingly, serve as a team captain in his seventh season playing college football. He played three years at Wyoming before transferring to Mizzou before the 2021 season.
Hicks saw his most consistent reps last season, as he appeared in all 13 games. The linebacker tallied 53 total tackles, 27 solo tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Now, Mizzou's five team captains will work on finishing up fall camp, before the season opener on Aug. 29 against Murray State.
