Here’s why Missouri football added another transfer QB with Nick Evers
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Missouri football has already found its expected starting quarterback for the 2026 season out of the transfer portal, but on Tuesday morning the Tigers added more depth to the room.
Nick Evers, a UConn transfer who started his career at Oklahoma, has committed to Mizzou, he announced via his Instagram account on Tuesday. Evers has spent the past two years in Storrs, Connecticut, and also has spent time with OU and Wisconsin since starting his college career as a four-star prospect in the Class of 2022.
The transfer is unlikely to upset the order at the top of Mizzou’s depth chart.
Missouri quickly zeroed in on Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons in the transfer portal, essentially adding the lefty on the day the portal opened. Simmons finished his season as Ole Miss’ backup to Trinidad Chambliss through the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Simmons arrived in Columbia the day after the Rebels’ loss to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8, per posts to his social media account.
The Tigers also are returning freshman Matt Zollers, who started three games for Mizzou while 2025 starter Beau Pribula was either injured or in the transfer portal. Pribula has since committed to Virginia.
Zollers flashed a lot of promise in his rookie reps. The Tigers have called him the future of the team at the quarterback position, and he showed enough arm talent to indicate that he could be a good quarterback down the line.
But, the freshman was still quite green in his appearances and made a number of freshman errors. Mizzou, by adding Simmons, appears to have made the decision to give Zollers more time to develop before throwing him back into the starting job.
After those two players, the room was a little thin.
Pribula is off to the ACC. Quarterback and right-handed pitcher Sam Horn is still widely expected to sign for the MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers this year, although that hasn’t yet been made official. He missed essentially all of 2025 with an injury.
Mizzou’s only other options at QB are former walk-ons and incoming true freshman Gavin Sidwar.
That made the need for some experience important.
This is not an uncommon move for Mizzou under Drinkwitz.
In 2022, Missouri added veteran Jack Abraham as an emergency depth option. In 2023, Jake Garcia arrived to compete. In 2024, Drew Pyne transferred in from Arizona State and ended up starting a game with Brady Cook and Horn both out injured.
Evers is likely to be the next QB of that mold for Mizzou.
He committed to Oklahoma as a four-star prospect in the Class of 2022 but only attempted on pass with the Sooners before transferring to Wisconsin in 2023. He did not play for the Badgers.
In 2024, he transferred again, landing at UConn. He started eight games, playing in nine total matchups, for the Huskies that season, and threw for a little more than 100 yards per game, five touchdowns and five interceptions. A dual-threat, Evers rushed for 245 yards and three touchdowns.
Evers was replaced by seventh-year senior Joe Fagnano last season and, after transferring again, is expected to have one remaining year of eligibility.
The likelihood is that he’ll be the third-string option with Missouri, but could push Zollers for backup reps.
As became clear in Columbia in both 2024 and 2025, that can be an important role.
Mizzou has had to start its third-string QB in each of the past two seasons. It was Pyne in 2024 and Zollers in 2025.
If injuries hit, Missouri at least has some experience now.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football adds more QB depth with UConn transfer Nick Evers
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