Mizzou football wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. to return in 2024

While many Mizzou players are moving on to the next step, but a big playmaker is coming back to close out his college eligibility.

Missouri football announced Thursday in a video on X (formerly Twitter) that wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. will return to the Tigers for the 2024 season.

Wease was second among all players in receiving yards in 2023 — trailing just Luther Burden III — after catching 49 passes for 682 yards in his debut campaign after transferring to Columbia from Oklahoma.

The 6-foot-2, 192-pound wideout proved to be one of quarterback Brady Cook’s go-to options in the red zone in the Tigers’ run to a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State last Friday. He finished the year with six touchdowns.

Wease has one year of eligibility remaining, and figures to return as a potential team captain in 2024. The Tigers look set to bring back all of their wide receivers from 2023, with Mookie Cooper, Burden and a large group of underclassmen — including sophomore Mekhi Miller and freshman Marquis Johnson — set to return.

So far, seven Missouri players have declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, most from the Tigers defense.

Running back Cody Schrader is the lone exception, while cornerbacks Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine, defensive ends Darius Robinson and Nyles Gaddy, safety JC Carlies and defensive tackle Realus George Jr. all have declared for the upcoming draft.

Wease was draft eligible but, to the Tigers' gain, has elected to come back for another season.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. to return in 2024