Mizzou football brought in former UConn QB Nicik Evers in the transfer portal. He'll play a crucial role as the Tigers' backup, helping Matt Zollers preserve his redshirt.
Missouri has earned the commitment of UConn transfer quarterback Nick Evers, per On3.
Evers was a highly-touted four-star recruit and the No. 8 quarterback in the class of 2022, but his career did not go as once projected. He began his career with Oklahoma, where he threw one pass in the 2022 season before transferring to Wisconsin. In an even lower role, he threw no passes, leading Evers to transfer to UConn.
He won the starting battle f in 2024 training camp, and saw action in nine games, throwing for 918 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions while helping the Huskies to a 5-3 regular-season record in games he played. However, backup quarterback Joe Fagnano took his job as the primary signal-caller midseason and didn't look back, holding the job for the entire 2025 season as well.
Evers, after losing the one starting job he previously won, now transfers to Missouri. He's is the second quarterback Missouri has brought to Columbia in the 2026 cycle, joining former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons. Missouri also has promising true freshman Matt Zollers, who threw for 502 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in 2025, on the roster.
So where does Evers fit in?
The tenured, once-promising — some of which he still holds — young talent — has had a career of many stops and experiences. In his final season of eligibility, he transfers to a school that brought in a sophomore transfer ranked higher than him in the portal and a freshman which the head coach labeled as "the future" of the program.
That screams backup. But that backup role, as showcased through the past two seasons, is crucial for the Tigers.
Former starting quarterback Brady Cook went down in the middle of his 2024 season, leaving journeyman backup Drew Pyne to fill in. The results were... mixed at best. Pyne kept the Tigers afloat while Cook made a heroic return leading to an eventual win against Auburn, but was crushed 34-0 by Alabama. He capped off the season with a three-touchdown performance in a chaotic win against Oklahoma.
The backup role remained prevalent in 2025. Beau Pribula and Sam Horn were battling for the starting job in training camp. Horn fractured his tibia in the first game of the season, and Pribula dislocated his ankle in Week 9. This threw two gigantic wrenches in Missouri's quarterback plan, forcing Zollers, the true freshman with a recent injury history of his own, to step in and start three games for the Tigers.
Both Pyne and Zollers had their important moments that those who watched the respective seasons can distinctly remember. The story of the 2024 and 2025 seasons cannot be told without those two.
But the story of the 2025 season was likely never supposed to show Zollers — if so, a very brief shot or two, not as a top bill. Given his status on coming off of a serious leg injury, and being a true freshman with two four-year players ahead of him, it was safe to assume he wouldn't be seeing the field much and could take the year to sit back, watch, develop and preserve his redshirt.
That developmental season was robbed from him. Now, with the addition of Evers, Missouri has insurance for if Simmons, the projected starter, goes down. With both Simmons and Evers ahead of him, Zollers can take the season to use his redshirt, watch and develop, barring an injury to both Missouri's QB1 and QB2, but what are the chances of that happening two seasons in a row?
You might want to knock on wood.